Bassij

Basij

Formation	November 26, 1979; 37 years ago (1979-11-26) (Decreed) April 30, 1980; 37 years ago (1980-04-30) (Founded)
Founder	Ruhollah Khomeini
Type	Paramilitary volunteer militia
Purpose	Auxiliaries
Fields	Internal security, law enforcement, moral policing
Commander	Brig. Gen. Gholamhossein Gheybparvar
Parent organization	None (1980–81) Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Since 1981)
Budget (1395 SH)	$357.08 million
Staff (2005)	90,000 (CSIS estimate)
Volunteers (2009)	11.2 million (official data) 600,000 available for mission
Slogan	"20,000,000 man army"
Mission	"To create the necessary capabilities in all individuals believing in the constitution and goals of the Islamic revolution to defend the country, the regime of the Islamic Republic, and aid people in cases of disasters and unexpected events"
Website	basij.ir

The Basij (Persian: بسيج‎‎, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niruyeh Moghavemat Basij (Persian: نیروی مقاومت بسیج‎‎, "Mobilisation Resistance Force"), full name Sāzmān-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin (Persian: سازمان بسیج مستضعفین‎‎, "The Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed"), is one of the five forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. A paramilitary volunteer militia established in Iran in 1979 by order of Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian Revolution, the organization originally consisted of civilian volunteers who were urged by Khomeini to fight in the Iran–Iraq War.

It was an independent organization from inception until 17 February 1981, when it was officially incorporated into the Revolutionary Guards organization structure by the Iranian Parliament in order to end the interservice rivalry between the two, according to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Today the force consists of young Iranians who volunteer, often in exchange for official benefits. Basij serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as internal security, law enforcement auxiliary, providing social services, organizing public religious ceremonies, policing morals, and suppression of dissident gatherings. The force is named Basij; an individual member is called basiji.

The Basij are subordinate to and receive their orders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Khomeini, to whom they are known for their loyalty. They have a local organization in almost every city in Iran.