Key facts about the commander of the Basij: Israel breaks the regime’s stick
Gholam Reza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij forces, whose killing was announced by Israel on Tuesday, is regarded as the regime’s “instrument of coercion” against its opponents.
Soleimani led the Basij forces, which in recent years have been tasked with suppressing protests in Iranian streets and have played a prominent role amid the recent surge in anti-regime demonstrations.
He was born in the city of Farsan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in southwestern Iran and served as commander of the Basij for six years.
He took part in the Iran-Iraq War, which began in 1980 and lasted eight years, during which he led several military operations.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Isfahan and completed military training courses at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ military university, known as “Daffos University,” between 2000 and 2004.
He previously commanded the IRGC’s 19th “Al-Fajr” Division, then the “Thar Allah” Division in Tehran, and led the 14th “Imam Hussein” Division until 2009, after which he served as commander of military forces in Isfahan Province for eleven years.
He began his military career in 1981 during the Iran-Iraq War, rising from company commander to battalion commander over the course of the conflict.
On January 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed Gholam Reza Soleimani on its sanctions list for his role in advancing the Iranian government’s destabilizing objectives at the regional and global levels.
The European Union also imposed sanctions on him on April 12, 2021, for his role in planning the suppression of the November 2019 protests.
The Basij is part of the forces affiliated with the Iranian regime. During protests—particularly in recent periods of escalation—it has overseen centralized repression operations, using harsh violence, mass arrests, and force against civilian demonstrators, according to a statement by the Israeli army.
