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The 40 th independent infantry brigade's “Shahid Chamran” garrison is either located in Ardabil, or Sarab, which are adjacent cities in northwestern Iran. It is possible that they are deployed in both locations, though the available literature is inconclusive. On one hand, some media sources refer to the Brigade's location in Ardabil, quoting civilian officials who have called for its garrison to be relocated in order to ease urban development. ( IRNA, 02/2012 ) Furthermore, the Army has resisted these calls, saying that the city's residents prefer the garrison's presence. ( FNA, 04/2010 ) Lastly, the Army's 199th Infantry Battalion participated in the city's 2014 Sacred Defense Week Parade, a unit which has been associated with the 40th Brigade in the past. 199th Bn, Ardabil On the other hand, an interview with the brigade's commander in 2014 seems to unequivocally state that the brigade is based in Sarab, not Ardabil: The commander of the Army's 40th B...

Located in the city of Miyaneh in the East Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran, the 36th independent brigade is, according to most sources, armored, but has also been referred to as mechanized. Parade imagery from Army Day 2013 shows the use of BTR-60PB, and Zu-23-2-armed Boragh air-defense APCs, the latter supplemented by towed Zu-23-2s. Also visible is a motorcycle-based anti-tank battalion armed with RPG-7s, whose apparent size is consistent with an assumed strength of 27 bikes/Bn. GEOINT available from Google Earth dates from August 2010. The base covers a large area on the south-eastern portion of the city of Miyaneh, and is situated on Road 32 which connects Tehran, Qazvin, Tabriz, and Bazargan near the Turkish Border. There is a scarcity of barracks-type buildings, only the four buildings with red roofs in the eastern half of the compound fit the bill, though there are additional apartments in the southern part of the compound. Munitions storage can be found north of ro...

Among the many types of Basij units, the two with the most apparent conventional military posture are the Imam Hussein, and Jerusalem-type battalions. To maintain proficiency, these battalions conduct a number of exercises of varying scale throughout the year. Thanks to open-source coverage of these events, a general sense of organization as the small-unit level can be gleaned to a degree that usually isn't possible with Army or IRGC exercises. Use of fire-team or squad-sized elements cannot be established. In November 2012, it was reported that  in Lorestan 320 personnel organized in 18 platoons took part in exercises. Assuming these 18 platoons were the same size, this would translate to 17 soldiers per platoon. In 2013, during the Beit al-Moqdas exercises, imagery confirmed this number. However, during the same time, platoons with 20 soldiers were observed elsewhere. Basic personal gear includes a four-color digital-pattern uniform, a rucksack, and webbing. Helmets, mostly steel...