Protests across Iran have entered their fourth month while the Iranian authorities appear to be resorting to every possible mode of repression to suppress the demonstrators. Some violent modes of repression include shooting at protesters, injuring and killing people, executing protesters, thousands of arrests, physical and mental torture, and sexual violence, including rape. One of the important steps that the international community ought to take to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable is to impose crippling sanctions on one of the leading forces behind the crackdown, the IRGC’s violent paramilitary group, the Basij. In 1981, two years after its creation, the Basij became an official part of the IRGC and it established centers across the country. This paramilitary group acts with impunity. It was granted extensive powers by the IRGC that allowed its members to act as religious and moral police, to enforce the regime’s revolutionary laws, monitor people’s daily activities, suppress anti-regime protests, operate in foreign countries, organize religious events throughout Iran, and recruit and train child soldiers for the IRGC. Basij centers can be seen in almost every city, town, school and university across Iran. In return, the Basij has significantly empowered and emboldened the Iranian regime. As the US Treasury Department pointed out: “In addition to its involvement in violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses in Iran, the Basij recruits and trains fighters . . . including Iranian children, who then deploy to Syria to support the brutal Assad regime.” In every wave of protests, including the latest one, the Basij has played a critical role in cracking down on demonstrators and those who dare to criticize the Islamic Republic and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many videos on social media have revealed how the Basij officers are shooting and beating up protesters. The Basij members appear in plain clothes (lebas shakhsi) in public, which makes it extremely difficult for ordinary people to identify them before being attacked. Iran International news agency reported that “According to Rouydad24 news website in Tehran, when people produce evidence that they were beaten or arrested by plainclothes individuals or even when videos of plainclothes officers arresting, beating or shooting at protesters emerge, the government always claims that they were “rogue elements.’” As long as all law enforcement officers in Iran do not wear uniforms, the government can get away with the criminal acts committed by them. Since 1999, when plainclothes officers violently suppressed a student uprising in Tehran killing several students, some regime insiders have been trying to convince the security forces to issue uniforms to all law enforcers, to no avail. Security forces are under the command of Khamenei, who needs plainclothes agents to save the regime from the people. Although the Iranian regime claims that the Basij is a voluntary resistance group, many of its members are paid. In fact, the regime designates a large budget to the group every year. The Basij has become an important player in both the private and public sectors, and is reportedly one the largest investors in the Iranian stock exchange. Those who join the group are given financial and non-monetary incentives such as easier entry to universities, access to bank loans, grants and employment. While the theocratic establishment of Iran denies that the Basij are involved in the crackdown, a member of Basij surprisingly revealed to France 24 International in a rare interview: “In our unit, we have shotguns, tear gas, batons, paintball guns and stun guns. We had a few hours of introduction and training on ‘non-combat’ weapons like these . . . I try not to hit protesters . . . The others in my unit aim at people to hit them, to hit them in the chest or head, to kill them. And if you kill someone, you won’t get in trouble. So hotheads or officers who do not care shoot at people’s heads. That can be deadly. We have some Kalashnikovs in our arsenal too, but we have not used them yet. Kalashnikovs are now being used by IRGC members and the police. As far as I know, the Basij arsenal is the same in all the big cities. As Basij, we have not yet been ordered to use Kalashnikovs, but our unit used them in 2019. We will use Kalashnikovs again when the orders come.” It is imperative that the UN take action to hold the Iranian regime accountable. The IRGC’s paramilitary group is a leading force in the brutal crackdown on protesters. The international community must impose severe sanctions on this group. One of the most effective ways to weaken it is to cut off the flow of funds, to the IRGC and its mercenary group, the Basij.