Iran Rally In Tehran: 600,000 Sign Up For Military Training As War With US, Israel Continues

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians gathered in Tehran on Friday, September 18, for a government-organised rally as volunteers pledged their readiness to take up arms and defend the country amid months of war.

The mobilisation was the biggest such demonstration since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February. Associated Press reported that Iran's government has sought to rally the public and stress national unity as the economy worsens under a US naval blockade of its ports and new US sanctions. The rally also came as Iran claimed another attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway it has sought to control since the war began.

State media had promoted the campaign for days under the name “Janfaday-e Iran”, or the “ones who sacrifice their lives for Iran”. Volunteers marched through downtown Tehran in combat uniforms carrying flags, while onlookers cheered.

State media said training with assault rifles would begin soon. The volunteers would provide an additional layer of security alongside the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia, which has played a key role in quashing anti-government protests.

Tehran's Guard chief, Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh, told the state broadcaster that more than 600,000 people had registered for the programme, with more than 1 million expected to take part in the training. On Friday morning, the broadcaster estimated that more than 300,000 people were on the streets.

The new head of the Basij, Hossein Taeb, said in a speech as the rally began that the volunteers would be ready for “full-fledged defense” and that similar rallies would soon take place in other cities.

The new trainees would be a “nightmare” for Iran's enemies, Taeb added, as President Masoud Pezeshkian, military commanders and other senior officials watched the march.

Some participants trampled on US and Israeli flags, while others chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.

“I am here to tell [U.S. President Donald] Trump that we Iranians have no fear of his threats against our homeland,” said Marzieh Afaghi, 24, who attended the rally with her toddler and husband. “No one in history could invade Iran and remain there.”

The rally also featured military hardware. Anti-aircraft batteries were displayed, while female Guard members wearing black headscarves sat with truck-mounted machine guns.

The Guard displayed drones that have been used against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran's attacks and threats have severely affected shipments of oil and natural gas from the Gulf to the rest of the world.

Iran said it had attacked the Togo-flagged oil tanker Trend over what it called an “illegal attempt” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state broadcaster reported. The UK's Maritime Trade Operations centre said a tanker had been hit by a projectile, sparking a fire on board that was later extinguished.

In a separate update, UKMTO said ship transits facilitated by the US military off Oman had averaged 24 a day over the previous week. Overall traffic remained about 90 per cent lower than before the war.

Associated Press reported that Friday's events also suggested that hard-liners like Taeb among Iran's leadership would be more prepared to suppress any future demonstration against the theocracy.

In January, shortly before the war, Iran saw some of its largest nationwide protests in history. The demonstrations began over the struggling economy before developing into wider grievances.

Activists have said a crackdown killed more than 7,000 people and resulted in tens of thousands being detained.

In May, government officials said more than 30 million people in Iran — which has a total population of around 90 million — had volunteered through an online form or at public gatherings to lay down their lives for the theocracy. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the figure.