Armed training and patrols for the Afghan Fatemiyoun militia in southeastern Iran

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The "Fatemiyoun" militia of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, made up of Afghan fighters, has spread in recent weeks in large areas of Sistan and Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, adjacent to the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Militia members appeared in video clips during military training and armed patrols, while local reports spoke of hundreds of them being stationed in bases and residential areas in the governorate.

The Iranian human rights network "Hal Wash" published several video clips, the most recent of which showed Fatemiyoun gunmen in military uniform moving and positioning themselves in the Rudmahi Heights of the city of Zahedan, while another video showed members of the militia during weapons training inside a girls' school in the Gasht area of ​​the city of Saravan.

The Hal Wash network also published a video showing dozens of motorcycles being transported by vehicles to the Rudmahi base, where Fatemiyoun members are stationed.

On September 11, four members of the Fatemiyoun militia were killed while on patrol in the Rudmahi area, after being shot by gunmen, before their vehicle was burned, according to the Hal Wash human rights network.

The network says that hundreds of Fatemiyoun members were deployed in several border areas in Sistan and Baluchestan province, including Zahedan, Saravan, Zabul, and Chabahar, and that in some areas the Revolutionary Guard handed over Basij bases that were used by local forces to these elements.

The deployment of Afghan members of the Fatemiyoun militia sparked criticism from Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, the imam of the Sunni Friday prayers in Zahedan, who spoke in his Friday sermon on September 18 about the introduction of “foreign and proxy forces” into Sistan and Baluchestan, and called on the authorities to rely on the population and local forces, saying that he did not see much success in relying on such forces.

This coincided with the announcement by officials of the Sistan and Baluchestan province of preparing for a large parade of what they called the “Iranian Fedayeen Brigades.” The Director General of Political Affairs in the province, Gholam Reza Ganji, said that about 100,000 people would participate in the program, without publishing details about the participating units or their locations, and he did not reveal whether the “Fatemiyoun” members were part of the parade.

"Fatemiyoun" is one of the most prominent militias affiliated with the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and it consists mainly of Afghans, and the majority of the fighters who were recruited into its ranks were Afghan refugees and immigrants residing in Iran.

When imposing sanctions on the militia in 2019, the US Treasury Department said that the Revolutionary Guard and Basij recruited “Fatemiyoun” fighters mainly from Afghan refugees and immigrants in Iran, and that some of them were subjected to pressure related to residency or deportation to join the fighting in Syria.

There are no accurate official statistics for the number of its members, but Human Rights Watch quoted an interview published by the Iranian Tasnim Agency, estimating it at about 14,000 fighters, while other estimates at the height of the Syrian war reached about 20,000. The organization also documented the participation of Afghan children in its ranks, some of whom were as young as 14 years old.

The militia's roots go back to Afghan fighters who previously participated in the Iran-Iraq war, before the "Fatemiyoun" formation appeared in its modern form in the Syrian war under the leadership of Ali Reza Tavassoli, who was killed in Daraa in 2015.

Reports describe Sayyed Hassan Mortazavi, who holds the position of Iranian Deputy Ambassador in Kabul, as one of the founders of “Fatemiyoun” and one of the figures who played a role in recruiting Afghan fighters and organizing militia activity, and one of the senior leaders of the Quds Force who handled the Afghan file.

Since 2013, the militia has participated in a number of the most prominent fronts of the Syrian war alongside the Revolutionary Guard, Hezbollah, and Assad regime forces, including Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Homs, Hama, and Deir ez-Zor.

The recruitment of Afghans raised official objections in Kabul. In 2017, the previous Afghan government demanded that Iran stop recruiting Afghan refugees and sending them to Syria, especially after reports emerged of child recruitment.

In the same year, Muhammad Mohaqiq, who was the Executive Vice President of the Afghan government, sparked widespread controversy after, during a visit to Tehran, he praised Afghan fighters participating in the Syrian war and the commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani.

The Afghan presidency responded at the time that his statements contradicted foreign policy, national interests and Afghan laws and did not represent the government’s position, while his statements faced widespread criticism within Parliament, and members of the Senate demanded his trial.

An investigator was later accused of supporting the recruitment of Afghans for the Fatemiyoun, without being referred to trial and investigation for his participation in the recruitment operations.

Fatemiyoun entered a different phase after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, as its members withdrew from their positions in Syria with the collapse of the lines of forces loyal to the regime.

European reports indicate that most of the Fatemiyoun members left their positions, and some of them were transferred to Iran with members of the Revolutionary Guard, while others crossed into Iraq or moved to Lebanon with Hezbollah members.

Press reports quoted former fighters that groups of "Fatemiyoun" arrived at Russian bases before being evacuated to Iran, while families lost contact with a number of fighters during the rapid collapse of the fronts. Hundreds of Fatemiyoun members also moved to Iraq after the fall of Assad.

According to the Washington Institute, fighters crossed from Deir ez-Zor to the Al-Qaim region in Iraq, before being transferred to sites belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, including Jurf al-Sakhar and Camp Ashraf in Diyala. The institute later monitored the presence of militia members in a camp in Saladin Governorate, a base in Tuz Khurmatu, a training center in Balad district, and two camps in southern Baghdad and Rusafa, with the participation of Iraqi armed factions loyal to Iran in facilitating their movements.

In Afghanistan, the Fatemiyoun file has remained sensitive since the Taliban returned to power. Last August, the Taliban authorities asked residents of Malistan Governorate in Ghazni Province to report on Fatemiyoun members, an area from which a number of fighters who joined the militia originate.

With the spread of reports that Iran had asked Taliban opponents residing on its territory to stop their operations against the Taliban, and its assurances that it would not allow any party to attack the Taliban government, the Iranian authorities invited armed Taliban opponents to officially participate in the funeral ceremony of former leader Ali Khamenei, in addition to inviting senior Taliban officials, in a move that aroused the movement’s dissatisfaction with inviting opponents and holding an official reception ceremony for them.

Following widespread criticism by Taliban-affiliated media, the Iranian Deputy Ambassador in Kabul, Sayyed Hassan Mortazavi, announced that Tehran does not support any political or military movement opposed to the Taliban and does not consider the armed fighting against it “resistance.”

Mortazavi's statements were welcomed by the Taliban's official spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, stressing the importance and depth of relations between the Taliban and Iran.

Observers believe that the statements of the Iranian deputy ambassador came to reassure and satisfy the Taliban following their anger at Iran’s invitation to its opponents and receiving them as an official delegation.

The current deployment of the Fatemiyoun in Sistan and Baluchestan brings the militia members back to the forefront of military activity inside Iran, after years when the bulk of its activity was taking place outside the Iranian borders, especially in Syria, while the nature of the tasks assigned to the militia in Sistan and Baluchestan, which is adjacent to the Afghan and Pakistani borders, has not yet become clear.