There are a number of references to groups in Iran using in their name the term "hezbollah/hizbollah," some of which also use the term "ansar."

In 1987 Hiro wrote:

Those assisting the IRG [Iranian Revolutionary Guards] were Hezbollahis, members of the the Hezbollah (Party of Allah). Later, this shadowy organisation was found to have surreptitious links with the Islamic Revolutionary Party. It was to play an important role in the street at crucial moments in the history of the revolution. ...

The term Party of Allah, Hezbollah, is generic rather than specific. It was apt for an organisation which was loosely structured. Both these basic elements were seen as virtues. A definition of the Hezbollahi, given in a pamphlet published by the Ministry of Islamic guidance, was instructive. "The Hezbollahi is a wild torrent surpassing the imagination," it said. "He is a maktabi (one who follows Islam comprehensively), disgusted with any leaning to the East or West. He has a pocketful of documents exposing the treason of those who pose as intellectuals. He is simple, sincere and angry. Stay away from his anger, which destroys all in its path. Khomeini is his heart and soul .... The Hezbollahi does not use eau de cologne, wear a tie or smoke American cigarettes. ... You might wonder where he gets his information. He is everywhere, serving your food, selling you ice-cream."

Once political challenges to the regime had died down, Hezbollahis concentrated on social matters such as the observance of women's Islamic dress and the ban on alcohol. ... In February 1983 they demonstrated in south Tehran to demand strict adherence to Islamic morals and warn those who might be tempted to transgress them due to the liberalisation measures taken (113,242-243)

In 1997 Amnesty International wrote:

Members of a grass-roots organization known as Hezbollah, and its offshoot Ansar-e Hezbollah [are] known to carry out attacks against people or institutions deemed as "unIslamic" or "against the line of the Imam [Khomeini]". It receives support from Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a member of the Council of Guardians and Head of the Islamic Propagation Organization, who in August 1995 recommended in a Friday sermon that "officials not reprimand young Hezbollah members when ... they carry out their duty". His comments followed the firebombing of a publishing house, which had published a book some deemed immoral. The authorities are not known to have taken any action against Hezbollah members believed to have carried out acts of violence (1997).

There are numerous references to Hezbollahis as organized street gangs (Ricks 1992, 250; UNHCR Sept. 1998, Country Reports 1999; Middle East Times 11 July 1999). An article in Middle East International states:

Of the extreme right-wing groups the best known as the Hezbollah (Party of God) and its vigilante associate, the Ansar-e Hezbollah. A shadowy organisation, Hezbollah played an important role on the street at crucial moments in the early days of the revolution by confronting those the regime regarded as counter-revolutionaries, including members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq opposition group, now based in Iraq. Its ranks were swollen by many veterans of the Iran-Iraq war. Following Khomeini's deaths in 1989, it vowed to defend what it regarded as his legacy, and opposed pragmatic changes that were introduced in the post-war period. The Ansar tore down advertisements for luxury western products, damaged fashionable boutiques and harassed young couples in parks (15 Oct. 1999, 23).

The IND writes:

Hezbollahi ("partisans of God") consist of religious zealots who consider themselves as preservers of the Revolution. They have been active in harassing government critics and intellectuals, have firebombed bookstores and disrupted meetings. They are said to gather at the invitation of the state-affiliated media and generally act without meaningful police restraint or fear of persecution. ... (4.28)

In its annex on Political Organisations the IND writes that

All opposition groups in Iran have hitherto been proscribed. Of the following, only the Nezat-Azadi and the Solidarity Party of Islamic Iran are tolerated. Until the Solidarity Party of Islamic Iran was registered in 1998, none of the groups were registered under the Political Parties Act 1981 (Apr. 2000).

This list includes three whose names incorporate the term Hezbollah:

Ansar-e-Hizbollah (Helpers of the Party of God): Formed 1995, seeks to gain access to the political process for religious militants, includes vigilante activities. Has aligned with some members of the clergy. A public physical assault on two reformist government ministers in Sept.1998 was attributed to this group. Members were instrumental in the clashes with students in July 1999. ...

Fraksion-e Hezbollah: Formed 1996 by deputies in the Majles who had contested the 1996 legislative elections as a loose coalition known as the Society of Combatant Clergy. Leader Ali Akbar Hossaini. ...

Majma-e Hezbollah: Formed 1996 by deputies in the Majles who supported Rafsanjani and who had contested the 1996 legislative elections as a loose coalition known as the Servants of Iran's Construction. Leader= Abdollah Nouri (ibid.).

This information is partially corroborated by the Political Handbook of the World: 1999, which reports that members of the Association of Combatant Clergy "later served as the core of the new Hezbollah faction in the Majlis" and identifies Ali Akbar Hossaini as "Leader of the Hezboolah Faction in the Islamic Consultative Assembly" (1999, 458). In information about the Servants of Construction (SC) the same publication writes that:

A strong "antiliberal" campaign on behalf of the Association of Combatant Clergy/Hezbollah having apparently prevented what some observers had expected to be a clear-cut SC victory. The SC supported Interior Minister Abdullah Nouri in his unsuccessful bid to be elected speaker of the new Majlis. Nouri was later named head of the Hezbollah Assembly, a moderate grouping of legislative members positioned in counterpoint to the Hezbollah Faction (ibid.).

The Europa World Yearbook 2000 also reports that "Anzar-e Hezbollah" was formed in 1995 and that it "seeks to gain access to the political process for religious militants" (2000, 1867). The UNHCR reports:

Armed vigilante groups of hezbollahis, said to be supported by the conservative clergy who are known to frequently disrupt anti-government activites, are another important element of Iranian national security ...

Hezbollahis (Children of the Party of God)

Iranians who fervently support the revolution, strict adherence to Islamic codes of behaviour, and who advocate a dominant role for religion in Iranian society call themselves hezbollahis. Hezbollahis are said to serve as Revolutionary Guards, volunteers at mosque-related associations, and personal staff of leading ayatollahs. Organized militant gangs of hezbollahis act as vigilante groups or street fighters, and are reportedly used by the fundamentalist clergy to agitate anti-government demonstrations, or to intimidate secular opposition factions. Hezbollahis claim to be followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and generally act without meaningful police restraint or fear of persecution. ...

Supporters of the Party of God (Ansar-e-Hezbollah)

Described as a "hardliner" group, it has been active against people whom it deems to be against the interests of the Islamic Republic, and reportedly "wield[s] considerable influence" in Iranian politics and society. In March 1998, its members attacked students participating in a rally outside Tehran University, who were protesting the conservative authorities' rejection of President Khatemi's supporters as candidates for the parliamentary by-elections. In May 1998, a group of 60 or more of its members reportedly attacked a gathering of students in Tehran who were "demanding that non-clerics and women be allowed to run in elections later this year for the powerful Assembly of Experts." Following the verdict in the trial of the former mayor of Tehran, the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, Hossein llahkaram, called for Karbaschi's execution. Members of Ansar-e-Hezbollah are also reported to have attacked a conference of surgeons critical of a move to segregate health care by gender (Sept. 1998).

Country Reports 1999 states:

Organizations such as the Ansar-e Hezbollah, a movement of hard-line vigilantes who seek to enforce their vision of appropriate revolutionary comportment upon the society, harass, beat, and intimidate those who demonstrate publicly for reform or who do not observe dress codes or other modes of correct revolutionary conduct. This includes women whose clothing does not cover the hair and all of the body except the hands and face, or those who wear makeup or nail polish. Ansar-e Hezbollah gangs also have been used to destroy newspaper offices and printing presses, intimidate dissident clerics, and disrupt peaceful gatherings. Ansar-e Hezbollah cells are organized throughout the country and linked to individual members of the country's leadership (section 1f.)

Other sources identify members of Ansar-e Hezbollah as being involved with the clash with students in July 1999 (AFP 21 Aug. 1999; ibid. 9 July 1999; HRW 12 July 1999; Country Reports 1999 25 Feb. 2000, Section 2 b.). There are also other reports of attacks by members of the Ansar-e Hezbollah (IRNA 24 May 2000; Xinhua 25 Jan. 1998; Middle East Economic Digest 28 July 2000;). In a videotape linking vigilantes to senior clerics and members of the security forces, Amir Ebrahimi - a former members of Ansar-e Hezbollah - "says the Ansar were given missions by senior clerics and other prominent right-wingers to disrupt public meetings, attack and beat up reformist activists and assault former vice-president Abdollah Nouri" (ibid.).

On 29 April 2000, AFP reported that

Iran's volunteer Islamic militia have been put on a "state of alert" to confront "any social agitation" after the recent suspension of reformist newspapers, a fundamentalist newspaper reported Saturday.

"The forces of Hezbollah nationwide have been put on a state of alert to put down the outlaws and agitators," said the Islamic fundamentalist paper Yalesarat Saturday, in an allusion to the protesting students.

"The possibility of unrest exists despite appeals for calm, and that is why the Hezbollah forces are on a state of alert to intervene if needs be to thwart any possible plot," said a statement issued by the fundamentalist Ansar-Hezbollah group, which is close to the para-military Bassiji militia.

In the past week the courts have closed "until further notice" 11 dailies and five political periodicals close to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

For other information on the Ansar-e Hezbollah please consult IRN35109.E of 3 August 2000, IRN33350.E of 23 December 1999, IRN31630.E of 23 April 1999, and IRN27218.E of 11 July 1997.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 29 April 2000. "Iranian Islamic Militia 'On Alert' to Deal With Social Unrest." (NEXIS)

_____. 21 August 1999. Kianouche Dorriainie. "Iranian President Khatami Defends Inquiry into July's Bloody Unrest." (NEXIS)

_____. 9 July 1999. "Heurts à Téhéran: 3 tués et plus de mille blessés, selon les Moudjahidine." topic@alc1.par.afp.com [Accessed 9 July 1999]

Amnesty International. 1997. "Iran: Human Rights Violations Against Shi'a Religious Leaders and Their Followers." London: Amnesty International. (MDE 13/18/97)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 25 Feb. 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC.

The Europa World Year Book 2000. 2000. 41st ed. Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications.
Hiro, Dilip. 1987. Iran Under the Ayatollahs. London: Routeldge & Kegan Paul

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Human Rights Watch (HRW). 13 July 1999. "Assault on Iranian Students Condemned." hrwatchyc@igc.org [Accessed 12 July 1999]

Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home Office, UK. April 2000. Iran Assessment. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/asylum/asylum_Iran.htm#thisdecade [Accessed 15 Sept. 2000]

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). 24 May 2000. "Iran: 'Unauthorized Student Gathering' Borken Up at Tehran University." (BBC Worldwide 24 May 2000/NEXIS)

Middle East Economic Digest [London]. 28 July 2000. "Iran Court Summons Prominent Reformers in Videotape Case." (NEXIS)

Middle East International [London]. 15 October 1999. No. 610. Dilip Hiro. "Dissecting Iran's Internal Politics."

Middle East Times [Cairo, in English]. 11 July 1999. "Iranian Students: Islam and the Law, or Another Revolution." http://metimes.com [Accessed 13 July 1999]

Political Handbook of the World 1999. 1999. Edited by Arthur S. Banks. Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications.

Ricks, Thomas. 1992, "Power Politics and Political Culture: US-Iran Relations." In Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic. Samih K. Farsoun and Mehrdad Mashayekhi (eds.). London: Routeldge.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Geneva. September 1998. Background Paper on Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Iran. http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/country/cdr/cdrirn2.htm [Accessed 15 Sept. 1999]

Xinhua. 25 January 1998. "Iranian President: Chaos Not Allowed in Civilized Society." (NEXIS)