Basiji – News Stories About Basiji - Page 1

Nov 22, 2009 7:42 AM CST

Iran Kicks Off 5 Days of War Games

Drill meant to boost air defense of nuclear facilities

(Newser) - Iran today begins large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting the country's nuclear facilities, state television reports, adding that the five-day drill will cover a third of the country, including regions that are home to Iran's nuclear facilities. The drill involves both Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, the paramilitary Basij...

Ahmadinejad Defies Ayatollah, Refuses to
Sack Vice Prez

Jul 22, 2009 7:58 AM CDT

Ahmadinejad Defies Ayatollah, Refuses to Sack Vice Prez

In-law stays despite pro-Israel comments

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defied a direct order from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dismiss his vice president, opening a rift between Iran's president and supreme leader, reports the Los Angeles Times. Ahmadinejad's newly chosen VP, who is his son's father-in-law, has infuriated hardliners by making favorable remarks about Israel. But Ahmadinejad...

In the Shadows,
Ayatollah's Son
Calls the Shots

Jun 25, 2009 9:28 AM CDT

In the Shadows, Ayatollah's Son Calls the Shots

Mojtaba Khamenei has power throughout the security apparatus

(Newser) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rarely appears in public and cultivates a shadowy reputation—but even further out of the public eye, his son has become one of the post powerful men in Iran. Ultraconservative cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, believed to be around 50 years old, has connections throughout the Revolutionary Guards and...

Neda Mourned Privately as Iran Bans Memorials

Jun 23, 2009 6:59 AM CDT

Neda Mourned Privately as Iran Bans Memorials

Slain 26-year-old lover of music, travel 'couldn't stand injustice'

(Newser) - Neda Agha-Soltan has become the face of the Iranian protests but friends say she was never an activist before the disputed election, the Los Angeles Times reports. The 26-year-old, a music lover who was studying for a career in tourism, was shot dead by a sniper on her way to...

Death of
Iranian 'Neda'
Sweeps Internet

Jun 21, 2009 2:45 PM CDT

Death of Iranian 'Neda' Sweeps Internet

(Newser) - A graphic video that apparently captured the death of a young Iranian woman known only as “Neda” has become an online phenomenon, CNN reports. Neda was protesting in Tehran with her father against alleged electoral fraud when the pro-government militia Basiji shot her in the heart, a blogger writes....

Street Protests Cool, But Iran Opposition Takes to Rooftops

Jun 19, 2009 4:32 PM CDT

Street Protests Cool, But Iran Opposition Takes to Rooftops

Mousavi supporters chant from rooftops, but opposition's next step is unclear

(Newser) - Calls of “Allahu Akbar” punctuated Tehran’s evening quiet as some residents took to their rooftops to protest Ayatollah Khamenei’s support of what they see as fraudulent election results, MSNBC reports. Despite the rooftop protests—a tactic used in the 1979 revolution—outright street demonstrations from supporters of...

Iran Frees Murderous
Vice Squad

Apr 19, 2007 4:12 PM CDT

Iran Frees Murderous Vice Squad

Convictions overturned for hardliners who killed "morally corrupt" citizens

(Newser) - Iran's Supreme Court has exonerated a group of Islamic hardliners earlier convicted of the vigilante killing of Iranians they considered "morally corrupt," the Times reports. Six members of the Basiji force, an elite paramilitary group, were originally convicted of murdering five people, including an engaged couple walking...