{"id":11281,"date":"2026-10-25T11:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T11:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=11281"},"modified":"2026-10-25T11:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T11:46:10","slug":"irans-authorities-take-self-sacrifice-mobilisation-campaign-nationwide-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=11281","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s authorities take \u2018self-sacrifice\u2019 mobilisation campaign nationwide | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Iran\u2019s authorities are increasing investment in a campaign to arm and train civilians who would serve in the state security apparatus against domestic and foreign threats amid growing fears<\/a> that fighting with the United States and Israel could resume imminently.<\/p>\n

The public mobilisation drive \u2013 called Janfada, or \u201cthose who sacrifice their life\u201d \u2013 was launched in late March at the peak of the war with the US and Israel. It has now spread to large parts of the country and is aiming to attract volunteer men and women. It has a stated focus on youth but is open to all ages.<\/p>\n

At their numerous street booths and stations, representatives of the Basij militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other state bodies offer training on using weapons and other equipment to defend the government and its \u201crevolutionary\u201d values.<\/p>\n

State-organised events and armed \u201cexercises\u201d linked with the mobilisation campaign have been held in Tehran, Isfahan, Zanjan, Shiraz, Kerman, Mashhad, Bojnord, Ahvaz and other big and small cities across many of Iran\u2019s 31 provinces.<\/p>\n

Ali Kowsari, Basij\u2019s deputy for training, announced during a news conference this month that the IRGC wants to use at least 14 main squares across Tehran as training and equipment stations for Janfada volunteers. The goal is to use at least one to three squares in the capital city of every single province, he said, without divulging how many cities are currently being used as part of the campaign.<\/p>\n

State-run nighttime events are sometimes held with rallies and motorcades during the day. A resident of Gilan province in northern Iran told Al Jazeera that people regularly see state-run stations on the streets in big and smaller cities across the province during their commutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they hold competitions to win some small prizes. They bring in live bullets, teach people how to load them into magazines, how to arm pistols and assault rifles, and how to aim and fire,\u201d the resident said, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe organisers are mostly old men. Since the start of the war, they\u2019ve gathered around the main square almost every night, also often playing revolutionary tunes and chanting from loudspeakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Gilan\u2019s city of Rasht on October 15, residents objected to the noise and blocking of the street for the nighttime pro-government gathering. Videos circulating on social media showed a confrontation that escalated into a brawl although the authorities did not comment.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, authorities cautioned residents in Alborz province\u2019s Karaj near Tehran that they could expect explosions and loud noises from one of the Janfada exercises.<\/p>\n

\u2018Revolutions are like riding a bicycle\u2019<\/h2>\n

Last week, there was a big mobilisation campaign in northwestern Iran\u2019s Kurdistan province, which borders Iraq.<\/p>\n

The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency characterised a procession in the provincial capital, Sanandaj, as an exercise in \u201cunity\u201d between the Shia and Sunni Muslim populations.<\/p>\n

But a number of foreign-based Iranian human rights groups have characterised such armed mobilisation efforts as \u201cintimidation\u201d campaigns that are held months after January\u2019s nationwide protests, during which thousands of civilians, including many young people, were killed from gunshots and stab wounds.<\/p>\n

The government has acknowledged that protests took place in more than 400 counties across all provinces but describes them as a \u201ccoup\u201d attempt wholly orchestrated by the US and Israel to overthrow the establishment. It also rejected findings by an independent United Nations fact-finding mission that said the authorities committed crimes against humanity while cracking down on the protests.<\/p>\n

Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, said the US-Israeli war on Iran has \u201cpresented another opening for the more revolutionary elements of the Iranian body politic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevolutions are like riding a bicycle. To avoid a nasty fall, you must pedal hard. And this is precisely what the Janfadas and their leaders are trying to do \u2013 to remain relevant,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Janfada\u2019s training mobilisation also gives the more revolutionary-minded figures within the Iranian leadership a chance for choreographed displays of political and ideological loyalty to the revolution and its principles,\u201d the professor said.<\/p>\n

\"Female
Female volunteers receive military training at a training centre at Imam Hussein Square in Tehran on October 4, 2026 [Majid Asgaripour\/West Asia News Agency via Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Siege mentality\u2019<\/h2>\n

The government said 33 million Iranians have signed up on the campaign\u2019s website but has provided no evidence to support this number.<\/p>\n

It represents more than a third of the country\u2019s population, or more than half of the over-12 population, men and women.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, foreign-based activists accessed<\/a> the website\u2019s source code, which showed that fewer than four million people had registered. Only a phone number was required for registration, and no national identification number was needed.<\/p>\n

Speaking last week about the political goals of the campaign, Nematollah Bagheri, IRGC commander for the province of Lorestan, said: \u201cThe aim is to show that, just as the government supports the people, the people support the Islamic Republic and the Islamic revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organisers said registrants could be used in future rescue operations and for social services and media and financial support. The government has also asked them to help ease the pressure of the US war, naval blockade and sanctions by consuming less fuel, electricity and other resources.<\/p>\n

The establishment\u2019s efforts to expand the campaign have only grown after nearly eight months of attritional war, which has killed thousands of people, made Iranians poorer and seen parts of the country\u2019s civilian infrastructure destroyed.<\/p>\n

Children have become a major focus for the campaign, and schools have increasingly been accommodating mobilisation. Last week, Education Minister Alireza Kazemi said the Basij militia was registering \u201cstudent Janfadas\u201d and had plans for more mobilisation and ceremonies involving children over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Kamrava, the university professor, said this kind of mobilisation does not necessarily broaden the scope of the state\u2019s legitimacy among the larger society.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does, however, serve to deepen the legitimacy that the state already has among its existing supporters. It reinforces belief in the revolution\u2019s ideological and political mission and reifies the siege mentality that all revolutionaries have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Iran\u2019s authorities are increasing investment in a campaign to arm and train civilians who would serve in the state security apparatus against domestic and foreign threats amid growing fears that fighting with the United States and Israel could resume imminently. The public mobilisation drive \u2013 called Janfada, or \u201cthose who sacrifice their life\u201d \u2013 was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t