Iran Basij force to strengthen navy in Persian Gulf
Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008
13:00GMT—8:00AM/EST
BASIJ – IRGC – NAVY – PERSIAN GULF
Washington, 19 November (IranVNC)—Iran’s Basij Resistance Force, a voluntary militia under the command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC], plans to cooperate with the IRGC’s Navy to increase the naval capability of the Guards Corps in the Persian against any potential threats, said the commander of the Basij today.
Speaking with the official IRNA news agency, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Ta’eb, the commander of the Basij, said that the his force has now been assigned to train his men in naval combat tactics so that the Basij can coordinate and conduct joint operations with the IRGC in the Persian Gulf, when necessary.
“With the assistance of the trained Basij forces, the IRGC Navy in the Persian Gulf can increase its naval combat forces threefold, at any point in time and in the face of any threat,” Ta’eb told IRNA.
The IRGC has a command structure that is independent of Iran’s regular army, with a fully-equipped ground, air and naval force, as well as the Basij paramilitary force.
The Basij’s diving and helming units have already been trained and can now operate independently when assigned to do so, Ta’eb said.
In addition to its coordination with the IRGC’s navy, the Basij also has arrangements with the IRGC Air Force and Army, Ta’eb added.
Iran’s IRCG forces have in recent months taken new measures to improve their defense capabilities.
In September the Iranian government gave the IRGC exclusive responsibility to defend the Iranian side of the Persian Gulf.
On Monday, IRGC’s commander, Ta’eb, said that the force was upgrading a naval base on Iran’s Persian Gulf coastline. And last month, Iran announced that it had built a new naval base on the eastern part of the Strait of Hormoz.
Iran has previously warned that if it was the target of a military attack over its nuclear program, it would immediately respond by closing the Strait.
The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said in June that Iran would “not be allowed to close” the waterway.
Source: IRNA in Persian
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