Basij forces readying for drills in eastern Iran

Iran’s Basij (Voluntary) forces plan to stage Towards Beit al-Moqaddas military exercises in South Khorassan province, in Eastern Iran, in late February. “Twenty battalions will take part in the drills to be held in the province from February 20-March 6,” Deputy Commander of Basij troops in South Khorasan province Ali Qassemi announced on Monday. He said that the main purpose of the drills is maintaining the preparedness of the Basij forces, and added, “The Basij forces will practice military trainings in the drills.” Qassemi also explained that a battalion of female Basij forces will also be present in the exercises. In December, a provincial commander said that Iran has taught new combat tactics to its Basij forces during the recent ‘Towards Beit al-Moqaddas’ exercises. Commander of Basij troops in the Southwestern city of Dezful Abdolamir Mohtashami voiced satisfaction in the successful exercise of Towards Beit al-Moqaddas drills on December 12-13, and said, “The two-day military exercises were conducted to increase the preparedness of Ashura and Beitol-Moqaddas battalions in the Quds garrison of Dezful city.” He underlined that better acquisition and practice of new combat and defense tactics have been among the main objectives achieved during the drills. “These maneuvers helped a lot to increasing the preparedness of the popular Basij forces,” Mohtashami said. Fast reaction units of Basij Force staged massive military drills in the Northern Golestan and 8 other provinces across Iran in November. The massive drills codenamed ‘Towards Beitol-Moqaddas’ were carried out by three operational battalions of Jundollah, Mohammad Rasulollah (PBUH) and Sarallah in Golestan province. The exercises kicked off after an order by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei. “The main purpose for these wargames is to retain preparedness and increase the combat capability of the forces to confront any possible move by domestic and foreign enemies,” Lieutenant Commander of Golestan’s Neynava Corps Hossein Karimi told FNA. He reiterated that these wargames will continue throughout the year. Fast reaction units of Basij forces have so far conducted tens of similar exercises, codenamed 'Towards Beitol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem)', throughout Iran to promote their power in confrontation against potential enemy threats against the country. Basij commanders said that Basij would continue training of its units to promote the power of its forces for confrontation against enemies' hard, semi-hard and soft threats. In September, Commander of the IRGC Ground Force Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour announced that his forces are scheduled to stage massive wargames in the second half of the current Iranian year (i.e. September 23, 2013-March 20, 2014). "The IRGC Ground Force will stage drills by the end of the current year," Pakpour told reporters in Tehran in September.