BEIRUT (AP) — Hours after Israel killed Iran’s top commander Basij this week, it launched another attack — this time targeting rank-and-file soldiers in the feared unit that has helped suppress widespread protests this year. A drone blew up one of the many makeshift roadblocks erected by Basij around the capital, Tehran.
Israel and the United States say they aim to break the Islamic Republic’s instruments of domestic control through a bombing campaign that has been going on for nearly three weeks. Monitors estimate that as many as a third of attacks since the war began have targeted top brass and main bases of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards, as well as Basij volunteers tasked with bolstering loyalty to Iran’s theocratic rulers.
Last week, Israel began attacking Basij checkpoints, extending the threat to lower-level members. But the Basij, police and Revolutionary Guards maintain control, and there are no signs yet of Iranians heeding U.S. and Israeli calls for an uprising as many seek refuge from airstrikes and uncertainty.
Security personnel are still out
Residents say the presence of security forces in Tehran remains intimidating. War observers say an intensified crackdown that began with a crackdown on nationwide protests in January is continuing, often targeting those filming the strikes or trying to bypass a weeklong internet blackout to communicate with the outside world.
Israel’s actions may be aimed at weakening the morale of the Basijs and prompting them to defect or refuse to serve. It could also embolden many Iranians who remain angry over the killing of thousands in January’s crackdown. In early March, the Israeli military released a message in Farsi urging Bas Girgis’ mothers to lay down their weapons and “save their children.”
But Hamidreza Aziz, an expert on Iranian security and foreign policy, said the Basijites are highly ideological and “the most decentralized force in an already highly decentralized system.”
Aziz said Israel’s killing of its top commander, Gen. Ghulam Reza Soleimani, earlier on Tuesday was unlikely to derail the process. Elected not for expertise but for “ideological rigidity and loyalty to the supreme leader,” Chief Basij plays a more symbolic role.
“For the most part, Basij units operate autonomously or semi-autonomously, especially in operational matters,” Aziz said.
Basij checkpoints have proliferated across Tehran, often consisting of just a row of traffic cones and a few vehicles. One resident said there were five or six new checkpoints in his upscale neighborhood alone. He said they searched vehicles for weapons, checked documents and sometimes asked to see people’s cellphones. He requested anonymity for safety reasons.
Israel says it is attacking Basij on the streets
Attacks on checkpoints began on March 11, with the US Monitoring Group’s Armed Conflict Location and Event Data recording at least 15 incidents in a single day.
“We are launching devastating strikes against the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij in the streets and at checkpoints,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the next day, adding that the aim was to create conditions for the Iranians to overthrow the government.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had attacked more than 10 Basij positions in the capital. Video posted online and verified by The Associated Press showed two vehicles burning near traffic cones on a multi-lane avenue in central Tehran. The location matched one shown in aerial footage released by the Israeli military, which showed an attack on a checkpoint as a bus and cars passed by on Tuesday.
Iranians have been circulating videos and posts on social media showing the location of checkpoints, often tagging the Israeli army’s Farsi-language accounts and urging them to carry out attacks, sometimes in the name of protesters killed in the area. Others spread news about checkpoints to alert commuters to the traffic situation. Some videos showed checkpoints set up under bridges, apparently to avoid attacks.
Volunteers work to instill loyalty
The Basij (Farsi for “mobilization”) has tens of thousands of volunteers under the command of the Revolutionary Guards. Aziz, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said most were unarmed and engaged in “ideological and political activities.”
He said they operated like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with branches in schools, universities, government agencies and other organizations. Volunteers, both men and women, work to ensure loyalty to the Islamic Republic. This could mean holding religious lectures or harassing those who ignore social restrictions. Aziz said they could also be mobilized to participate in state-organized events, including counter-protests.
Regional-level paramilitary forces are deployed during times of civil unrest, such as the January protests, and are equipped with weapons ranging from batons and stun devices to live ammunition.
Since these protests and the current war, Basij’s role has been to provide manpower, Aziz said.
“The state security apparatus has been constantly involved, leaving many of the core forces entrenched and perhaps exhausted,” he said. By manning checkpoints, Basij helps security agencies focus on information gathering and arrests.
Repression continues
Iranians described a flood of text messages warning of protests in Tehran and militant Basij patrols. On Thursday, Iran announced the executions of three men detained during January protests, the first known execution of such sentences.
Last week, semi-official news media reported that more than 100 people had been arrested across Iran, most of them accused of conspiring with enemy states or sharing media reports with foreign entities. At least 14 people have been accused of possessing Starlink Internet antennas or planning to sell them or virtual private network cards. Since the unprecedented blackout began on January 8, Starlink has been one of the only ways to access the global internet.
The government also reportedly shut down parts of Iran’s internal internet and revoked some VPN cards issued to people working in professional jobs.
The U.S.-based Documentation Center for Human Rights in Iran said people were rounded up for taking photos identifying the locations of checkpoints, bases and military installations. Authorities are still detaining people linked to the January protests, former political prisoners or members of ethnic minorities.
The rights group said there were reports of security forces firing at checkpoints. In one incident, two teenage brothers were shot dead after honking their car horns to celebrate the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the war’s opening salvo.
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Associated Press writers Amir-Hussein Radjy and Lee Keath in Cairo contributed.