Iran Holds Public Weapons Training Sessions in Tehran

Iranian Revolutionary Guard members now regularly show the public in Tehran how to handle Kalashnikov-style assault rifles. Parades through the capital feature military vehicles mounted with belt-fed Soviet-era machine guns. At one mass wedding, a ballistic missile adorned the stage.

Weapons are now regularly brandished in Tehran during weeks of an unsteady ceasefire. The displays coincide with government efforts to promote the "Janfada," or "ones who sacrifice their lives," through state television and text messages.

At a demonstration Tuesday night in Tehran, male and female participants divided into separate classes. Hadi Khoosheh, a member of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force and trainer, demonstrated how to handle a folding-stock Kalashnikov-style assault rifle.

"At the end of the training those who completed the course will receive a card titled 'Janfada,' proving they have received basic and preliminary training for this type of gun and they are able to use it if, God forbid, something happens to our country," Khoosheh said.

The weapons training was rudimentary at best for the young boys and older men gathered. One struggled to insert the rifle's magazine and inadvertently pointed the barrel of the unloaded weapon at others.

Government officials say more than 30 million people in Iran have volunteered via an online form or at public gatherings to lay down their lives for the country's defense. There is no way to confirm that figure and there has been no sign of a mass mobilization yet.

Ali Mofidi, a 47-year-old Tehran resident at a weapons training Tuesday night, said the sessions prepare residents for potential conflict. "This is necessary for all our people to get trained because we are in a war situation these days," Mofidi said.

"Scenes like these are reminiscent of child hostage-taking and arming by groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, and militias in Sudan and Congo," Ebadi said. A recent government-organized demonstration by nomads in Iran saw them carrying everything from bolt-action Lee–Enfield rifles to a blunderbuss.

Most weapon demonstrations during the ceasefire appear focused on Tehran rather than rural areas. "Definitely we will stand against (the Americans) and won’t give up even an inch of our soil," Mofidi said.