Hundreds of thousands of people have joined a government-organised Iranian volunteer force rally in Tehran, declaring their readiness to defend the country as the conflict with the United States and Israel continues.
The event on Friday featured the newly formed Janfada-ye-Iran force, which is intended to provide limited military and emergency-response training. The volunteers are expected to act as an additional security layer alongside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij militia.
Participants moved through central Tehran in combat uniforms, with some carrying flags and weapons. The authorities also displayed drones, anti-aircraft batteries and other military equipment.
Iranian officials said 313,000 people attended the rally in the capital, although the figure could not be independently verified.
Iranian volunteer force prepares for ‘full-fledged defence’
Hassan Hassanzadeh, the IRGC chief in Tehran, said more than 600,000 people had registered for the Janfada-ye-Iran campaign. The name roughly translates as “Those who sacrifice their lives for Iran”.
Officials said more than one million people were expected to undergo training. Women and teenagers have also registered with the volunteer units.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Basij chief Hossein Taeb were among the senior figures attending the rally. Mr Taeb told the crowd that the volunteers would be ready for “full-fledged defence” and would become a “nightmare” for Iran’s enemies.
One volunteer, Bahera, said: “I want to show the world that Iran is strong and united. We don’t want war, but we’re ready to defend our country to the very end.”
Another participant, wearing a combat uniform and carrying a rifle, said: “This is our homeland and we won’t let others decide its future.”
Mr Pezeshkian presented the gathering as a display of solidarity and preparedness. “This is not only a message to countries like the US and Israel, which are attacking Iran, but also to the Islamic Republic that we are ready for any crisis,” he said.
Mobilisation amid economic pressure
The rally took place as Iran faces a struggling economy, a US naval blockade of its ports and new American sanctions.
Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, condemned what he called a “brutal economic war, deliberately designed to inflict maximum pain and suffering on every Iranian citizen”.
The volunteer mobilisation campaign began in early April, during the height of US-Israeli attacks. Iranian authorities say more than 30 million people have registered for a potential call-up, equivalent to about a third of the country’s 86 million population.
