With a presence in nearly every city and town across Iran, the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps has an ever-increasing influence on life in the Islamic Republic. Authorities created the Basij, which means mobilization in Persian, just after the country's 1979 Islamic Republic. It is part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Photo: In this Thursday, August 22, 2013 photo, a female member of the Basij paramilitary militia aims a rifle as a trainer looks over her shoulder in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Breitling Wingwalker Freya Paterson, from Liverpool, UK, flies above Kuwait City's iconic Water Towers with pilots David Barrell and Martyn Carrington, on March 6, 2014. The team loop and roll up to 160 mph enduring G-forces of 4-5g. Crowds are expected to line the Kuwaiti coastline to catch a glimpse of the Wingwalking team on Saturday, March 8, 2014, to mark the opening of the first dedicated boutique in the city for the prestigious watch brand. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling)

The Euro sculpture is partially reflected in a puddle on a cobblestone pavement in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Jan. 21. (Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

Participants in costumes pose before a Halloween parade in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, Japan on October 28, 2018. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

A reveller performs during the first night of carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 23, 2020. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

This young boy wrestled with his emotions at the National Children’s Sumo ­Tournament in Tokyo on July 30, 2012. (Photo by AP Photo/LaPresse)

A woman plays with a kitten inside of a line house in downtown Shanghai April 12, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Nick Franklin, in action during the FMX competition at the 23rd edition of Free4Style this Saturday, July 2, 2016 in Estavayer-le-Lac,Switzerland. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/APA)