Iranians Rally in Tehran as 600,000 Register for Military Training
Updated
Updated · NBC News · Sep 18
Iranians Rally in Tehran as 600,000 Register for Military Training
3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Sep 18
Summary
More than 300,000 people marched through Tehran on Friday in a state-organized rally, with Revolutionary Guard officials saying over 600,000 had already signed up for military training and more than 1 million were expected.
The campaign, branded “Janfaday-e Iran,” is meant to project national unity and readiness for “full-fledged defense” after February’s U.S. and Israeli attacks, as Washington’s naval blockade and new sanctions deepen Iran’s economic strain.
State media said assault-rifle training would begin soon, adding a new volunteer layer to the Revolutionary Guard and Basij; senior officials watched as marchers chanted against the U.S. and Israel and trampled their flags.
Iran also used the event to display anti-aircraft batteries, machine-gun units and drones used against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran’s wartime control has disrupted regional oil and gas shipments.
The mobilization also points inward: hardliners could use the expanded volunteer force to deter or suppress renewed anti-government protests after January unrest that activists say left more than 7,000 dead.
With hardliner Hossein Taeb returning, is Iran's massive civilian mobilization preparing for a foreign invasion or a brutal crackdown on its own people?
As U.S. blockades choke the economy, will arming over a million civilian volunteers secure the Iranian regime or accidentally equip its future rebels?
Are Tehran's public displays of anti-aircraft weapons a true show of strength, or a desperate facade to hide recently destroyed defense systems?