Iran’s Basij (volunteer) forces have been assigned to fight the threat of soft overthrow of Iran’s regime, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday. Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), revealed the news at a gathering of 5,000 commanders of Tehran’s Basij units, according to the report. Jafari was quoted as saying that Basij forces were assigned by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to fight the threat of soft regime change plots. “The supreme leader has decided to assign this grave responsibility to Basij,” added the IRGC commander. The Basij is a large and omnipresent paramilitary organization with multifaceted roles, which acts as the eyes and ears of the Iran’s Islamic regime. It is present in schools, universities, state and private institutions, factories and even in the villages.
