Iran's Basij militia, which played a key role in crushing opposition protests in 2009, has put on a show of strength in the
capital in a two-day exercise culminating Thursday, AFP reports.
Some 50,000 members of the largely volunteer force were taking part in the drill, which was intended to "prove the security forces' ability to safeguard national security," Basij spokesman General Nasser Shabani told Iranian media. Shabani recalled the role played by the militia in 2009, when defeated reformist candidates led mass street protests against the controversial re-election of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.