Report
Iran expands IRGC Basij 'Janfada' civilian mobilisation
Iranian authorities have expanded the IRGC Basij-led Janfada campaign, which sets up street stations to train volunteers in weapons use, Al Jazeera English reported. The government says 33 million people have registered without providing evidence, but activists who examined the campaign website's source code found fewer than four million registrations. Foreign-based Iranian rights groups describe the armed mobilisation as an intimidation campaign after January's nationwide protests.
The campaign was launched in late March at the peak of the war with the United States and Israel and has since spread to large parts of the country. Ali Kowsari, Basij's deputy for training, said the IRGC wants at least 14 main squares in Tehran and one to three squares in every provincial capital to serve as training and equipment stations for volunteers. A resident of Gilan province told Al Jazeera English that organisers bring live bullets and teach volunteers how to load magazines and arm and fire pistols and assault rifles. State-organised events and armed exercises have been held in cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Ahvaz and Sanandaj, according to the report. Foreign-based Iranian rights groups have called the armed mobilisation an intimidation campaign months after January's nationwide protests, during which thousands of civilians were killed. The government says the protests were a US- and Israeli-orchestrated coup attempt and has rejected a UN fact-finding mission's finding that authorities committed crimes against humanity in the crackdown.
Sources
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