Ansar-e Hezbollah

Ansar-e Hezbollah
General SecretaryAbdolhamid Mohtasham[1]
Coordination headHossein Allahkaram[2]
Mashhad leaderHamid Ostad[3]
Kermanshah leaderSadegh Ashk-Talkh[4]
Tabriz leaderRuhollah Bejani[5]
Isfahan leaderKomeyl Kaveh[6]
Founded1990,[7] 1993[7] or 1995[8]
HeadquartersTehran
NewspaperYalasarat
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
ReligionShi'a Islam
SloganArabic: فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللَّهِ هُمُ ٱلْغَالِبُونَ
"Verily the Party of God are they that shall be triumphant" [Quran 5:56]

Ansar-e Hezbollah[13] (Persian: انصار حزب‌الله, lit. 'Supporters of the Party of God') is a conservative paramilitary organization in Iran.[14] According to the Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, it is a "semi-official quasi-clandestine organization of a paramilitary character that performs vigilante duties".[7]

Hossein Allahkaram, one of the organization's known leaders has described it as "groups of young war veterans who, based on their revolutionary-Islamic duty, claim to be carrying out the Imam's will and rectifying existing shortcomings in Iran".[15]

In 2018, the group was targeted with sanctions by the US for its involvement "in the violent suppression of Iranian citizens" and for working with the Basij carrying out attacks on student protesters using "knives, tear gas and electric batons".[14]

  1. ^ "Iran: Radical group gears up to begin morality patrols". Asharq Al-Awsat. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Changiz M. Varzi (5 December 2016). "Iranian hard-liner alleges FM Zarif is American spy". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. ^ Rachel Avraham (4 January 2016). "Report: Saudi Embassy attacked by Iranian governmental mobs". Jerusalem Online. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ^ Iran Report, vol. 5, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 15 July 2002, retrieved 25 March 2017
  5. ^ Emil Souleimanov; Kamil Pikal; Josef Kraus (Spring 2013), The Rise of Nationalism Among Iranian Azerbaijanis: A Step toward Iran's Disintegration? (PDF), vol. 17, Middle East Review of International Affairs, pp. 71–91, archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-12, retrieved 2017-05-11
  6. ^ Morteza Nikoubazl (18 August 2014), "Acid Attacks on Women Spread Terror in Iran", The Daily Beast, Reuters, retrieved 17 April 2017
  7. ^ a b c d Antoine, Olivier; Sfeir, Roy (2007), The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, Columbia University Press, p. 149
  8. ^ Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: Group known as Anssar-e Hizbollah (Ansar/Anzar e Hezbollah), 18 September 2000,IRN34994.E, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be430.html [accessed 11 May 2017]
  9. ^ Hamoon Khelghat-Doost (22 August 2016), The Ideo-Pragmatic Model (IPM); Understanding the Foreign and Security Policy of Ideologically Driven Authoritarian States, vol. 22, National University of Singapore[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Afshon Ostovar (2016). Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards. Oxford University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-19-049170-3.
  11. ^ Ali Alfoneh (1 January 2007), "Iran's Suicide Brigades", Critical Threats Project, retrieved 17 April 2017
  12. ^ a b Sinkaya, Bayram (2015), The Revolutionary Guards in Iranian Politics: Elites and Shifting Relations, Routledge, p. 137, ISBN 978-1-317-52564-6
  13. ^ CIA - The World Factbook see the "Government" section, "Political pressure groups and leaders" subsection in the 2006 version
  14. ^ a b Iran's Evin prison, Ansar-e Hezbollah face new US sanctions May 31, 2018
  15. ^ Moslem, Mehdi (2002). Factional Politics in Post-Khomeini Iran. Syracuse University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-8156-2978-8.