Massive Rally in Tehran as Hundreds of Thousands Pledge to Defend Iran
September 18: Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran on Friday in the largest government-organised mobilisation since the war between Iran, the United States and Israel began in February.
The rally, held under the banner “Janfada-ye Iran”, or “Sacrifice for Iran,” saw participants march through central Tehran in combat-style formations and pledge readiness to undergo military training and defend the country. Iranian officials said hundreds of thousands had registered for the mobilisation, although the exact scale of participation could not be independently verified.
The demonstration featured a prominent display of Iranian military hardware, including drones, anti-aircraft systems and armed vehicles, while some participants carried rifles. Women affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard were also seen participating in the military-style exercise.
The rally comes as U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade have intensified economic pressure on Tehran, worsening conditions inside Iran. Crowds chanted slogans against the United States and Israel, with some participants carrying Iranian flags and displaying anti-American and anti-Israeli imagery.
Iranian authorities presented the mobilisation as a demonstration of national unity and readiness to defend the country, while the scale of the event also signals Tehran’s effort to project strength amid the continuing conflict and mounting economic pressure.
While critics maintain that the people hate the regime, one cannot jump to conclusions so quickly: The war with the U.S. and Israel is continuing. This alone is breaking faith in America. It all started with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran in February and has continued through military strikes and Iranian retaliation. The Tehran rally is therefore being presented as a demonstration of readiness for a prolonged confrontation.
Trump has not made it any easier with U.S. sanctions drumming down on the regime, while the naval blockade are putting enormous pressure on Iran’s economy. Iranian oil exports have been severely restricted, the rial has fallen sharply, and inflation and shortages are worsening. Reuters reported earlier this month that Iranian officials were increasingly concerned about the economic squeeze and its potential to trigger renewed unrest.
In such a delicate situation, the government of Iran will naturally want to showcase national unity. President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials have repeatedly called for unity, arguing that Washington and its allies are trying to exploit economic hardship and divisions inside Iran. With all the attacks raining down from America, the people are Iran would cozy up to their government.
There is also a domestic-security dimension where more than 600,000 people have reportedly registered for limited military training, with Iranian officials expecting more than one million participants. The new volunteers are intended to form an additional layer of security alongside the Revolutionary Guard and Basij.
Iran is sending a message to Washington and Israel. The weapons and drone displays, military-style formations and pledges to defend Iran are designed to project the message that economic pressure and military attacks have not broken Tehran’s ability to mobilise supporters.
There is an important complication, though: a government-organised rally cannot by itself tell us how representative the crowd is of the Iranian population as a whole. Iran has a large population with diverse political views, and the rally was explicitly organised and promoted by the state. AP also notes that some of the government’s much larger claims about participation could not be independently verified.
So, stripped of the dramatic television images and enormous flags that governments everywhere apparently cannot resist, this is simultaneously a wartime mobilisation, a display of military readiness, a propaganda exercise and an attempt to deter internal unrest.
Though, it isn’t surprising that the streets of Tehran have now become a powerful stage for Iran’s wartime mobilisation, with civilians, paramilitary forces and military hardware appearing together in an unmistakable message of defiance.
JANPATH NEWS NETWORK (JNN)
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