TEHRAN — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy commander Rear Adm. Ali Reza Tangsiri announced on Tuesday that the force is being expanded with the addition of an "ocean-navigating mobilization unit" of over 55,000 men, local media reported.
Tangsiri said the new naval "Basij" unit is backed up by a wide range of 33,000 rocket-equipped vessels that are capable of conducting ocean missions, traveling as far as East Africa, according to the hard-line Tasnim news agency.
He noted that volunteer forces from the rural population in Iran's impoverished south are also joining the force as a "shadow" sub-unit. "These individuals are operating the vessels and the 107-millimeter rockets mounted on them, and will fire them when need be."
Iran's Basij — or the Organization for the Mobilization of the Oppressed — is a branch of the IRG involved in diverse missions such as cracking down on street protests and engaging in overseas combat operations.
