Commander of Iran's Basij Militia Killed

[Financial News] The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has officially confirmed the death of Basij militia commander Gholamreza Soleimani. With the core power structure hit by airstrikes from the United States of America (U.S.) and Israel, questions are emerging over potential cracks in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s internal control system.
Sefa News, a media outlet affiliated with the IRGC, stated on the 17th (local time), "Basij militia chief Soleimani has achieved martyrdom in bombings carried out by the United States of America (U.S.) and Israel."
Israel had claimed the previous night that its airstrikes had eliminated Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran (SNSC), along with Soleimani. However, authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have not confirmed whether Larijani was killed.
The Basij militia is an organization under the IRGC and functions as a dense, quasi-paramilitary network spread across the Islamic Republic of Iran. It plays a central role in maintaining the regime by suppressing protests, conducting internal surveillance, and gathering intelligence, and in wartime it supports the IRGC as a reserve force. During recent anti-government protests triggered by economic hardship, the Basij has been at the forefront of harsh crackdowns.
With this latest airstrike dealing a blow to the Basij leadership, a core pillar of regime maintenance, there is a growing sense that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s internal control may weaken while the risk of further retaliation rises. Given the power structure in which the IRGC and the Basij are tightly intertwined, the leadership vacuum could go beyond a simple military loss and develop into a broader source of political instability.

km@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-min Reporter