BASIJ

following
the student protests in July 1999, the Islamic government felt that it had lost control of the streets, and "reinvented" the Basij to correct this problem
GlobalSecurity.org reports that it was under the administration of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (elected in 2005) that the Basij appeared
In late September 2005
the Basij staged a series of urban defense exercises across the country
2,000 "Ashura battalions" within the Basij that will have "riot-control responsibilities." Some speculated the "revival" of the Basij was connected "with preparations for possible civil unrest." [1]
the Basij have been active in recent years in suppressing student demonstrations in Iran
Mir Hussein Moussavi,
in 2009
"decried the violence carried out by the Basij"
complaining that the basij attack the demonstrations "with hoses, clubs, iron bars, truncheons and sometimes firearms," `just before the police show up.`
Following the protests, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb,
commander of the Basij,

"cautioned" Iranians that the US was "hiring agents and mercenaries in an effort to continue its plots for a soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic,"
The Basij has
"cautioned" Iranians that the US was "hiring agents and mercenaries in an effort to continue its plots for a soft overthrow of the Islamic Republic," according to the Iranian Fars news agency.

The Basij has a quasi-decentralised network with branches in almost every Iranian mosque.[21] These mosques have rooms marked Paygah-e-Basij or Basij base, "which serves as a kind of Islamic club where students study the Koran, organize sports teams and plan field trips."[3]

See Pulse here