Fars reports in Persian that the Basij force, Iran's popular militia, is establishing a new "specialized" headquarters to help confront "threats".The information provided in the article is vague and not much is said about the purview of the new headquarters. However, it is mentioned that it is part of the greater restructuring effort and a way to improve coordination between the Basij and IRGC. It is also suggested that this headquarters may focus on fostering a more professional military culture within the Basij.
Since its establishment in 1979, the Basij force has had a mixed operational identity. It is one part popular militia, one part armed force, and one part urban political enforcer. In the Iran-Iraq war Basij members (mostly teenagers and older men) bore the brunt of fighting on the front and suffered more casualties than Iran's other armed forces. After the war, the Basij organization has tried to split its role into two: that of a national armed force (in the same vein as the IRGC and Army) and that of a localized hardline militia.
It is in the this latter domain that the Basij has been most active in post-war Iran, especially during the two terms of Khatami's presidency, where it assisted local Ansar-e Hezbollah militias as enforcers for hardline (anti-reformist) policies. However, under the current hardline regime--where Basijis have not been needed counter reformism locally--the Basij force has not been utilized on a national scale to the same degree as Iran's other armed forces.
Perhaps for this reason the current restructuring effort has emphasized a stronger national (and provincial) role for the Basij force. The IRGC has already brought the Basij directly under its command and is currently trying to strengthen its ties with the organization. It also seems Mohammad Ali Jafari, IRGC Chief Commander, wants to build the Basij into a more proper military division of the IRGC and give it a greater (and more professionalized) role in Iran's overall defense strategy.
This will take not only a streamlining of the Basij's command structure and overall organization, but it will also require a shift in the Basij's internal culture. As it stands, the Basij is as much (if not more so) a religious organization as it is a martial one. While the Basij's devoutness is no doubt one of its core strengths, its overemphasis of religious activism (and deemphasis of proper military conduct) has been a weakness. These recent changes, including the establishment of this new headquarters, seem to be geared towards increasing professionalization within the Basij without diluting its animating religiosity.
[Image: Femal Basijis on parade]
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