Ansar-e Hezbollah
Ansar-e Hezbollah (Persian: انصار حزبالله, lit. 'Supporters of the Party of God') is a conservative paramilitary organization in Iran. According to the Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism, it is a "semi-official quasi-clandestine organization of a paramilitary character that performs vigilante duties".
Ansar-e Hezbollah | |
|---|---|
Header of Yalasarat | |
| General Secretary | Abdolhamid Mohtasham |
| Coordination head | Hossein Allahkaram |
| Mashhad leader | Hamid Ostad |
| Kermanshah leader | Sadegh Ashk-Talkh |
| Tabriz leader | Ruhollah Bejani |
| Isfahan leader | Komeyl Kaveh |
| Founded | 1990, 1993 or 1995 |
| Headquarters | Tehran |
| Newspaper | Yalasarat |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Shi'a Islam |
| Slogan | Arabic: فَإِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللَّهِ هُمُ ٱلْغَالِبُونَ "Verily the Party of God are they that shall be triumphant" [Quran 5:56] |
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".
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".