Follow-up -- Iran's Basiji paramilitary

 

The head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force, Brig. Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, was killed alongside several other top leaders during a massive wave of targeted U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. The strikes aimed to dismantle the internal security command structure. While the broader military conflict has since transitioned into a fragile ceasefire and potential peace deal, the Basij remains central to escalating local and international human rights controversies. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Leadership Decapitation & War Damage

• Command Defeated: The⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed that Soleimani, who led the Basij since 2019, was assassinated in central Tehran alongside his deputy. [1, 2]
• Command Infrastructure Destroyed: Airstrikes wiped out an estimated 300 Basij commanders and field agents overnight. [1, 2]
• Logistical Blows: Strikes annihilated the force's principal repair, maintenance, and vehicle fleet nodes. This heavily restricted their street-patrol capabilities. [1]
• Checkpoint Neutralization: U.S. and Israeli operations deliberately targeted Basij street checkpoints across major urban areas to disrupt their chokehold on the civilian population. [1]

Domestic Attacks and Uprisings

• Coordinated Resistance Sabotage: Marking the June 20 revolutionary resistance anniversary, domestic MEK Resistance Units launched 45 coordinated operations. They hit Basij bases, judicial centers, and propaganda offices across 30 cities—including Tehran, Ahvaz, and Chabahar. [1]
• Checkshirt Disguises: Reports emerged of local Basiji agents seen changing out of their military uniforms into civilian clothes on the streets of Tehran's Aryashahr district to escape public identification and targeted retaliation. [1]
• Post-War Crackdowns: Despite internal infrastructure wreckage, remaining Basij plainclothes enforcers are heavily participating in the regime’s brutal, expedited execution campaigns targeting anti-regime dissidents and January protesters. [1, 2]

International Legal Action

• War Crimes Liability: Human rights groups like ⁠Amnesty International documented the Basij's systematic recruitment and deployment of child soldiers as young as 12 to guard checkpoints and manage wartime internal security. Critics state that exploiting underage children through predatory employment or education incentives during armed conflict constitutes an active war crime under customary international humanitarian law. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Do they have popular support in Iran or did they ever have popular support?

The Basij lacks popular support in Iran today, but they held significant, genuine popularity during the 1980s. [1]

Public perception has shifted drastically over the past four decades, transforming the group from revered wartime volunteers into a widely resented internal security apparatus. [1]

The Past: Genuine Popular Support (1980–1988)

• Wartime Patriotism: During the Iran-Iraq War, millions of Iranians viewed the Basij as selfless, heroic defenders of the nation against Saddam Hussein's invasion.
• Religious Devotion: Driven by Ayatollah Khomeini’s religious rhetoric of martyrdom, thousands of young volunteers willingly joined the human-wave attacks on the front lines. [1]
• Social Mobilization: The force was deeply rooted in local mosques, drawing immense respect from working-class and religious families who saw participation as both a civic and spiritual duty. [1, 2]

The Present: Widespread Public Resentment

• Shift to Internal Oppression: Following the war, the regime repurposed the Basij into an ideological police force tasked with crushing domestic dissent rather than fighting external enemies. [1]
• Brutal Crackdowns: Popular support evaporated as the Basij became the primary face of violent crackdowns against student uprisings, economic protests, and the⁠Woman, Life, Freedom movement. [1]
• Enforcers of Social Restrictions: Iranians widely resent the Basij for enforcing strict Islamic dress codes, raiding private parties, and policing everyday social behaviors. [1, 2, 3]
• Opportunism Over Ideology: Many modern recruits are viewed by the public not as religious zealots, but as opportunists joining purely for state benefits, including university quotas, government jobs, and military service exemptions. [1]