Ansar-e Hezbollah

Ansar-e Hezbollah (Helpers of the Party of God) is an Iranian vigilante paramilitary group with links to hardline factions within the state. Founded in the mid-1990s, the group is known for violently disrupting reformist gatherings, student protests, and intellectual lectures. It was behind a series of physical assaults on religious intellectual Abdolkarim Soroush and his audiences in the mid-1990s, and was instrumental in attacking student dormitories during the July 1999 student uprising. The group operates with impunity, widely understood to enjoy protection from elements within the security establishment and the Office of the Supreme Leader.