As Iran regime marks 200 days of war, is it also preparing for dissent?
Seven months into the war with the US, Iranian authorities staged a pro-government mobilization in Tehran, combining patriotic spectacle with a carefully calibrated demonstration aimed for domestic internal security capacity.
TEHRAN — Tehran's streets on Friday were a stage for one of the Islamic Republic's most conspicuous displays of wartime mobilization since the conflict with the United States and Israel began in late February.
According to the country's state TV and news agencies, hundreds of thousands gathered for the government-organized event marking 200 days of war, with volunteers from the "Janfada," or "self-sacrificing," campaign appearing in military fatigues alongside displays of drones and other military equipment. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated Basij paramilitary force presented the event as evidence of popular readiness to defend the country.
Yet the gathering was about more than projecting strength to Washington and Tel Aviv, moving from symbolic wartime solidarity toward a more structured show of force. Brig. Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of the IRGC's Rasoulallah Corps base in Tehran — known for having spearheaded crackdowns on previous rounds of unrest in the capital — said volunteers registered through Janfada were being "organized and trained" into battalions.
The campaign registration was launched after the war began in late February, calling on Iranians to enroll as volunteers in preparation for a possible US ground invasion. Officials later claimed that more than 22 million people had signed up for the campaign, which has received sustained IRGC financial backing and state media coverage.
