The head of Iran's Basij paramilitary force reportedly has said that the country is raising an army of "millions" which will flood Gaza and Syria to protect its allies.
A report citing Fars News Agency, Iran's official newspaper, quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, Commander the Basij paramilitary force as saying that the country has enlisted 'millions' of refugees from Gaza and Syria, who are now being trained to fight the conflicts in their respective countries.
"Millions of Basijis (volunteer forces) are ready in Iran to be dispatched to Syria and Gaza and they have come to us (for enlisting)," Naqdi said.
Iran's Basij forces is an elite fighting unit known for its brutality and high-handedness. During the 2009 Iranian elections, the Basij forces were instrumental in suppressing the student protest that threatened to destabilise the country.
The report in the Israel National News said that the statement from the top military brass from Iran was a veiled threat that has come at a time when thousands of Iranian volunteers with links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards force, are already fighting alongside pro-regime forces in Syria, as it wants to forge a Syrian-Hezbollah alliance made of Shia Islamists.
The report also noted that Brigadier General Naqdi's plan to spread out the Iranian militiamen may have the backing of the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who recently said that the West Bank should be armed just like Gaza.
Since Khamenei's call to arm terrorists in Judea and Samaria, numerous other Iranian military leaders have publicly repeated the Iranian Supreme Leader's directive to "arm the West Bank just like Gaza."
"The most serious job is that they [the Palestinians] need to receive the necessary training and skills; as today, Gaza has its own defensive industry and they have stood on their feet, we also try to implement the same plan in the West Bank, God willing," he said.
