Iran is strengthening the Basij

The Iranian government has long used the Basij—a paramilitary incorporated into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—as the face of internal security. While the Law Enforcement Forces might conduct more regular police work, Basij operations tend to focus more on countering ideological enemies and encouraging fealty to the Islamic Revolution through after-school programming and university organizations, and by policing morality. If the Iranian parliament gets its way, the Basij might soon become an even greater factor in Iranian society and politics.

The excerpted article highlights the Iranian parliament’s consideration of a bill to increase the Basij presence in almost every village, district, or urban neighborhood. While the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission within the parliament will review the legislation and any resulting law must be approved by the Guardian Council, both will likely uphold the measure. Should it be implemented, it suggests that the regime may be preparing for a new cultural revolution to weed out elements of reformism or moderation. The Guardian Council’s recent disqualification of 99 percent of reformist candidates seeking parliamentary seats indicates a desire by the clerical hierarchy within Iran to consolidate more hardline control.

Interestingly, however, there is some conservative push-back to the proposal to increase the Basij’s influence, as influential parliamentarian Ali Motahari suggested that neither the presence of the Basij units in residential areas was necessary nor would they necessarily preserve security. Here, the issue might be less a lack of sympathy toward the Basij’s ideology and more a recognition that prolonged Basij presence in residential areas might precipitate a spark which could form the basis for a larger protest movement as occurred after clashes between Iranian security forces and ordinary Iranians in 1999, 2001, and 2009.