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)

In this January 23, 2021, file photo, a police officer detains a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia. Allies of Navalny are calling for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations across the country that brought out tens of thousands in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/File)

Valik Vladimirovich plays dressed as a soldier in Stoyanka outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

A woman holds her dogs during a snow flurry as temperatures dropped below freezing during the third coronavirus lockdown in London, Tuesday, February 9, 2021. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee takes a holy bath on the banks of the Bagmati River on the occasion of Rishi Panchami at the end of the three-day long Teej Festival, in which Hindu women fast during the day and pray for the long lives for their husbands, in Kathmandu on September 1, 2022. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

American model Bella Hadid arrives for the screening of “Broker (Les Bonnes Etoiles)” during the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 26 May 2022. The movie is presented in the Official Competition of the festival which runs from 17 to 28 May. (Photo by Clemens Bilan/EPA/EFE)

Members of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute team perform during the Bethpage Air Show as part of a Memorial Day event at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York, U.S., May 25, 2019. (Photo by Johnny Milano/Reuters)

Copperhead ridden by Harry Cobden falls during the RSA Insurance Novices' Chase (Grade 1) at Cheltenham Racecourse on March 11, 2020 in Cheltenham, England. (Photo by Tom Jenkins/The Guardian)