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)

A protester is taken to hospital after he was wounded by birdshot during a street protest after it was announced that the runoff Jan. 24, presidential election had been postponed, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, January 22, 2016. The Provisional Electoral Council in Haiti has postponed the election amid escalating protests by the opposition, which claims the first round was marred by fraud in favor of a government-backed candidate. (Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery/AP Photo)

A Police officer checks a man wearing a carnival costume in Venice, Italy, Sunday, January 31, 2016. Carnival-goers in Venice are being asked by police to momentarily lift their masks as part of new anti-terrorism measures for the annual festivities. Police are also examining backpacks and bags and using metal-detecting wands before revelers are allowed into St. Mark's Square, the heart of the Venetian carnival. (Photo by Luigi Costantini/AP Photo)

A young couple rest in a football field after a forest fire devastated Santa Olga, 240 kilometres south of Santiago, on January 26, 2017. Six people – among them four firefighters and two police – have now been killed battling vast forest fires in central Chile, officials said Wednesday. Multiple blazes have ravaged 238,000 hectares (588,000 acres) and are growing, the National Forestry Corporation said in a statement. (Photo by Pablo Vera Lisperguer/AFP Photo)

A woman reacts as she attends Fet Gede, the traditional Haitian Day of the Dead celebration at the Port-au-Prince cemetery, in Haiti, on November 1, 2025. Fet Gede is the annual celebration when practitioners of vodou parade and believe to be possessed by the spirits of the dead. (Photo by Clarens Siffroy/AFP Photo)

Stiliana Nikolova of Bulgaria performs her ball exercise in the final of the individual competition of the 40th European Rhytmic Gymanstics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, 25 May 2024. (Photo by Tibor Illyes/EPA)

A motorized three-wheeled taxi carrying Muslim students drives past the Starbucks cafe where Thursday's attack occurred in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday, January 15, 2016. A day after attackers detonated bombs and engaged in gunbattles with police in the central part of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta tried to get itself back on track. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

A stunt rider jumps over spectators after the final stage of the annual ABSA Cape Epic mountain bike stage race, Cape Town, South Africa, 30 March 2014. The multi day stage race is know as the “Tour de France” of mountain biking and sees 1,200 riders riding 720km in seven days. The race includes the worlds leading professional racers along with amateur cyclists. (Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA)