General Discussion

is a paramilitary volunteer militia ...

Subgroupings of the Basij include the

Primary Schools Basij Cadets [Basij-e Danesh-Amouzi], (also reportedly called Omidan or Hopes),[55]
Middle schools basij, Pouyandegan or Seekers,[55]
High school Basij, Pishgaman or Standard Bearers,[55]
the Students Basij Cadets [Basij-e Daneshjouyi],
the University Basij Cadets,
the Public Service Basij (Basij-e Edarii), and
the Tribal Basij.[33]

Estimates of the number of Basij vary, with its leadership giving higher figures than outside commentators. Official estimates are as high as 23.8 million.[57] A scholar of the Basij, Saeid Golkar, estimates their total membership at approximately one million, and their security forces in the tens of thousands.[19] As of 2020 there were reportedly between 40,000[19] and 54,000 Basij bases (Paygha-e Basij) around Iran.[58]

Economic power
According to the US Treasury, the Basij have a multi-billion-dollar "covert network" of businesses.[19] According to Saeid Golkar, the influence of the Basij in the Iranian economy, has grown to extend to "every sector", from "construction and real estate to the stock market".[54] In 1996, six organizations were put under the control of the Basij Cooperative Foundation (BCF)

The Basijis Housing Institution (Moassesseh-ye Tamin-e Maskan-e Basijian).
The Basijis Medical Institution (Moassesseh-ye Tamin-e darman-e Basijian).
The Basijis No-Interest Loan Institute (Moassesseh-ye Gharz al-Hassaneh-ye Basijian).
The Basijis Consumer-Goods Provision Institution (Moassesseh-ye Tamin-e Aghlam-e Masrafi-ye Basijian).
The Cultural Artistic Institute of the Warriors of Islam (Moassesseh-ye Farhangi Honari-ye Razmandegan-e Eslam).
The Scientific and Pedagogic Services Institute of the Fighters (Moassesseh-ye Khadamat-e Elmi va Amouzeshi-ye Razmandegan).[59][54]
As the government privatized companies under president Hashemi Rafsanjani, The Basij Cooperative Foundation became the Basij's main mechanism for "purchasing entire industries on the cheap"

It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. The U.S. Army's General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States.[10] Responsible for extraterritorial operations,[11] the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthi movement, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.[11]