Basij, has noted that the Fifth Five-Year Plan calls on him to expand the Basij to embrace 20 million trained volunteers. But he says the budget approved for the Basij is nowhere near enough to accomplish that task. “We are obliged to do our duties as best we can,” he said, not entertaining the possibility that the Five-Year Plan is just fluff. Naqdi said he would need much more money to double the size of the Basij. That would mean he now has 10 million members, which is several times more than anyone believes he really has. The regime is truly statistically challenged.
