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WHO ARE THE BASSIDJIS ?
In Persian Bassidji means “to be mobilized, to defend a cause”.
This concept became important after the revolution and even more so during the war against Iraq. In the schools and mosques, hundreds of thousands of young men were encouraged to go to war and called the Bassidjis.
After several years, this movement became more structured and officially known as the Bassidj Resistant force. After the war, it continued to exist and drew many young religious men to its ranks. The Bassidj is simultaneously a military organization, a structure for political activism and a site of civilian and social activities. As such, it is the principal pillar of popular support for the Islamic republic. Its intention is also to be the defender of a virtuous Islamic society: through aid to the poor, general mobilization in time of crisis (war, public health catastrophe, earthquake, etc), and promotion of religious values.
It is in the latter function, as a guardian of morality, that the Bassidj has proved to be an efficient agent of repression against those in the population who do not identify with the religious system put in place after the Revolution. For these Iranians, i.e. the opponents and the non-religious, Bassidjis became a synonym for repression and intolerance. They are often perceived as young fanatics, as little dictators carrying out raids in the streets to control young unmarried couples or to enforce the strict wearing of veils.
The Bassidj’s organizational system extends all over the country, and is highly decentralized and hierarchical. The grid pattern of a city like Tehran for example, is structured around several Bassidj Departments which control the Bassidj Centers, which in their turn control dozens of Bassidj “Bases of resistance”. These bases are the smallest organizational unit of the Bassidj at the level of a neighborhood. They are for the most part located inside or next to a mosque, in universities, in public offices, etc. The Bassidj is present everywhere and therefore at the very core of the Iranian society.
We can understand how complex organization it is when we learn that the Bassidj Bases and Departments report not only to the army but also to the ministry they belong to, depending on their location. For example, the Tehran airport Bassidj is attached to the Ministry of Transport and the university Bassidj to the Ministry of Higher Education. This system of dual reporting demonstrates the coexistence of power that characterizes the Iranian political regime.