IRGC, BASIJ, ANSAR-E HIZBALLAH: INSIDERS' VIEWS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000012

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SUBJECT: IRGC, BASIJ, ANSAR-E HIZBALLAH: INSIDERS' VIEWS

REF: IRPO DUBAI 0001

RPO DUBAI 00000012 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian L. Burns, Director, Iran Regional
Presence Office, Dubai, UAE.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1.(S/NF) A purported former IRGC general and an Iranian doctor
who is reportedly very close to the regime and specifically to
the Basij, discussed in separate meetings with IRPO Director the
IRGC, the Basij, and Ansar-e Hizballah. One said recent US
actions against Iranians in Iraq had increased IRGC antagonism,
but predicted it was unlikely the group would retaliate.
Another claimed that the percentage of hardcore conservatives in
the IRGC is miniscule, and some are actually pro-American. A
third source, a psychologist, reportedly teaches anger
management to the Basij to help moderate their confrontational
approach to the public. While their assertions cannot be
verified, their comments are noteworthy. These contacts'
comments on the current political situation will be reported
septel. End summary

IRGC
--------------

2.(S/NF) An Iranian who is purportedly a former IRGC general
told IRPO Director that recent US actions against Iranians in
Baghdad and Irbil had "provoked" the IRGC. Although it was not
clear if he was speaking based on assumption or real knowledge,
he said the actions have heightened antagonism within the
organization against the US. On the other hand, the IRGC had
long known that the US could take such actions, so they weren't
necessarily surprised. He doubted the US would get any useful
information from detainees. He also doubted there would be
retaliation. He claimed the Supreme Leader had ordered rhetoric
about the events to be kept low-key.

3.(S/NF) The former general also said that one of his tasks in
the personnel division of the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq war was
finding replacements for military personnel killed in action.
Through their personnel files, he claimed to have gained a great
understanding of IRGC personnel. He mentioned that in creating
the IRGC personnel database, they based their system on the
system used by the US military.

4.(S/NF) An Iranian doctor who spent years living in the US and
who is now reportedly very close to former Foreign Minister
Velayati and a number of other regime officials, discussed his
view of the IRGC. He maintained that the IRGC has turned
against President Ahmadi-Nejad. He also mentioned that the
IRGC-Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader. Asked
his reaction to the US view that the IRGC was a very anti-US,
hardline group that supported terrorism, he claimed that only a
small percentage, around 3% of IRGC, are as hardline as the
paramilitary group, Ansar-e Hizballah. He said a few are
members of both organizations. Some in the IRGC are pro-US, he
claimed. He said that after the Iran-Iraq war, many IRGC
officers went to university and got higher degrees, changing
their world views. He named as an example Soleimani (Note:
presumably Brigadier General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the
IRGC Qods Force. Soleimani's classified biography says he did
not attend college prior to the Iran-Iraq war and makes no
mention of any university education post-war. Endnote).

5.(S/NF) The former general mentioned that another former IRGC
official who now has an Internet ISP company in Iran has been
arrested several times for his company's activities. The source
disputed the notion that all IRGC officials and former officials
are well connected with regime and favored by it. He said this
is only the case for members of a faction within the IRGC close
to the current government (reftel).

Basij
--------------

6.(S/NF) Both the general and the doctor reportedly have links
to the Basij. The general reportedly knows Basij commander
Mohammad Haj Aghamir, and the doctor is reportedly a regular
advisor to and a friend of the leader of Tehran Basij. The
general estimated Basij membership at 10-13 million (Note:
presumably including non-active duty. End note). The doctor
said 10 million members, plus their families. The doctor said
Basij doctrine is to support the Supreme Leader and his
policies. The group has no separate agenda and is not seeking
to gain power for itself. He claimed that the Supreme Leader
used the Basij to make known his dissatisfaction with the

RPO DUBAI 00000012 002.2 OF 002


president (NFI) and that the Basij stopped supporting
Ahmadi-Nejad about six months ago. He claimed the Basij now
"hate" Ahmadi-Nejad because the president did not deliver on his
promises to them during the election. The president supposedly
promised them a lot of positions in new government but was
unable to deliver because he got inundated with similar requests
for other groups.

7.(S/NF) The doctor's wife, who was also at the meeting,
reportedly teaches anger management to members of the Basij as
well as police and guards for the Supreme Leader and Rafsanjani.
She has a doctorate in psychology. Asked what the goal of such
training is, she said as an example encouraging Basij to be less
aggressive in their dealings with the public, such as
confronting improperly dressed women. She classified the
Iranian culture as "angry," in that when Iranians are
confronted, their normal response is anger, and said in this way
Iranians differ from Americans. She said she instructs the
guards on alternative reactions.

Ansar-e Hizballah
--------------

8.(S/NF) The purported former IRGC general said the Ansar-e
Hizballah paramilitary group was very conservative, but also
very small. He put their membership at 3000 members, found only
at universities. He said that Ansar-e Hizballah was established
during the Iran-Iraq war by Hussein Allah Karam, who came out of
the Basij. He described Allah Karam as very smart, saying he
has a PhD. The general disputed rumors heard frequently from
Iranians that Ansar-e Hizballah deploys foreigners such as
Palestinians and Yemenis in their ranks.

9.(S/NF) The doctor said that Ansar-e Hizballah is divided into
those willing to use violence and those not. He also said the
group is very conservative, calling them "stupid eggheads." He
put their membership, however, at 200,000 members. He said the
group supports President Ahmadi-Nejad, although they obeyed when
the Supreme Leader reportedly told Allah Karam not to interfere
in the December 2006 municipal and Assembly of Experts elections.

10.(S/NF) Comment: These are snippets of interesting
information offered by sources who reportedly have a degree of
inside information. These sources were all introduced to IRPO
director by the same longstanding Iranian-American contact,
making it difficult to independently verify their claims of
access to the regime. None of them were applying for visas, so
they had no reason to color their statements in this regard -
unlike many of our contacts - but their motivation for meeting
with a US official remains unclear. Their assessment that the
IRGC contains various political groupings is in line with
comments from other contacts, who have maintained the IRGC
contains factions favoring one politician - Ahmadi-Nejad,
Qalibaf, Rafsanjani, etc, - over another. The doctor's claim
that the IRGC as a whole is now anti-Ahmadi-Nejad and that the
Basij "hate" him may have been based on political motivation.
The doctor, who reportedly served on the presidential campaign
of Velayati, remains an avid supporter, and claims Velayati is
planning a 2009 bid. He may have been deliberating exaggerating
the situation to color USG's assessment of Ahmadi-Nejad's
political standing in Iran.

11.(C) Comment con't: On a related note, a different, very
westernized Iranian contact who lives outside Iran - not
apparently connected to any of these groups - advised the USG to
moderate the "vilification" of the IRGC and the Basij, which he
said was found in VOA broadcasting. Given the size of these two
organizations, he said, a large percentage of the Iranian
population has an IRGC or Basij member in the family. Making
sweeping generalities about these organizations has the
potential of turning this extended group against the US, he
said, by making them worry that in the case of change in Iran,
their family members would be targeted. He implied that the
focus of US criticisms should be on specific objectionable
behaviors of these groups, not on the groups themselves. This
is not an issue we have raised with other contacts but can do so
in the future in order to gauge reaction.
BURNS