Young Isfahanis know better than to mess with the boys from Najafabad. This city west of Isfahan once famed for apricot and pear orchards, is today known as a fertile recruiting ground for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Basij, the part-time militia run by the IRGC.

Four members of the IRGC killed in Syria over the past couple of years, all from Najaf-e Ashraf, the Guards’ 8th armoured division, had their roots here.

This small, highly religious central Iranian city has played a significant role in the history of the Islamic republic. It’s the hometown of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was supposed to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini as supreme leader. In the Iran-Iraq war, it claims to have lost more volunteers than any other place. Today the town is known as much for its luxury villas as the high concentration of mosques and religious hosseinieh centres that dot it.

The most recent to die, second lieutenant Alireza Nouri, was buried in his home city on 28 March. Uncharacteristically, only a handful of people can be seen in published photos of Nouri’s 4 April memorial. Funerals for the fallen are often packed boisterous affairs and an occasion to take to the streets.

Third Lieutenant Ruhollah Kafizadeh was killed in Syria in the spring of 2013 and subsequently buried in Najafabad. Iranian media identified Kafizadeh as a member of the special forces in the Najaf-e Ashraf tank command.



Mohsen Heidari, according to media reports an artillery observer, was killed on 19 August 2014 after fighting for two months in Syria and buried in his home city several days later. Second Lieutenant Mousa Kazemi was killed in action in Syria near the end of the summer of 2013 after fighting alongside Bashar Assad’s forces for 15 months.

The 8th Armoured Division is famous for its role in the eight-year war with Iraq, when it lost 8,000 soldiers under the command of Major General Ahmad Kazemi, who later died in a plane crash near Lake Urmia, north west Iran, on 9 January 2006.



Though Iranian military commanders claim that Iran’s role in Syria is purely advisory, dozens of Revolutionary Guard and Basij soldiers have been killed in over three years of war. Local Iranian media often report on the Basij and Revolutionary Guard war dead, and Qassem Suleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds force, its overseas arm, has been photographed standing alongside the relatives of fallen fighters.

Although the families of the fallen soldiers hold memorials for their loved ones, neither civilian officials nor military commanders have released figures for Iranian soldiers killed in Syria. The burial and memorial ceremonies go without coverage in the national press.

Although filmmakers in Iran have produced documentaries about some of the fallen Basij and Revolutionary Guard soldiers, online access to them is limited and the screenings usually take place at universities and religious centres.

Another recruiting ground for the Iranian government are the Afghan and Pakistani diasporas in Iran. When they contribute to the war efforts in both Syria and Iraq, they are known as “defenders of holy sites” abroad.

The government claims that the fighters have gone to Iraq and Syria voluntarily and that Basij and Revolutionary Guard members play no part in recruiting, training, or organizing them. But when they get killed, funeral and memorial services take place in the manner carried out for the Basij and IRGC martyrs.

Presented in partnership with our partner Digarban. Media watch is compiled from Iranian media reports and its blogosphere.

