Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took part on Friday in a government-organised gathering in Tehran, with the regime calling on citizens to join a military training programme and be ready to “sacrifice their lives” for the country. The mobilisation, the largest since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February, was both a message of domestic unity and a display of military strength.

The gathering, called “Janfaday-e Iran” (“those who sacrifice their lives for Iran”), took place at a time when the country is facing intense economic pressure as a result of US sanctions and the naval blockade of Iranian ports.

At the same time, the event was clearly intended as a show of strength by Tehran, with the government seeking to project an image of national unity in the face of external pressure.

Iranian state media reported that more than 300,000 people took part in Friday’s gathering.

The commander of the Tehran Guards, General Hassan Hassanzadeh, claimed that more than 600,000 people had already registered for the military training campaign, estimating that the total number of participants could exceed one million.

The volunteers are expected to receive basic military training, including training in the use of assault rifles.

According to the Iranian authorities, the aim is to create a new layer of security that will operate alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the paramilitary Basij organisation, which has played a significant role in suppressing anti-government protests.

The head of the Basij, Hossein Taeb, said the new volunteers would be ready for “full defence” and announced that similar gatherings would be held in other Iranian cities.

As he said, the new trainees would become a “nightmare” for Iran’s enemies.

Messages against the US and Israel

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, military commanders and other senior officials attended the gathering.

Some demonstrators stepped on American and Israeli flags, while chants including “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” could be heard from the crowd.

“I came here to tell Trump that we Iranians are not afraid of his threats against our homeland. No one in history has been able to invade Iran and remain there,” Marizeh Afaghi, who attended the gathering, told the Associated Press.

The event also provided an opportunity for Tehran to display some of its military equipment.

Air defence systems appeared at the gathering, while female members of the Revolutionary Guards wearing black headscarves were presented alongside vehicles equipped with machine guns.

At the same time, Iranian forces displayed drones that have been used in attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important maritime routes for the transportation of oil and natural gas.

The military mobilisation took place as Iran announced a new attack on commercial shipping in the area.

Tehran said its forces had struck the oil tanker Trend, flying the Togo flag, accusing it of attempting an unauthorised passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, the British UK Maritime Trade Operations centre announced that a tanker had been hit by an unidentified projectile, causing a fire that was extinguished shortly afterwards.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a critical factor in the conflict in the Middle East, as any disruption to shipping threatens one of the world’s most important energy routes, already causing fuel prices to rise in the US.

New mobilisation after internal unrest

The new campaign to mobilise citizens militarily comes after months of social unrest in Iran.

Nationwide protests erupted in January over economic hardship, which subsequently developed into broader challenges to the country’s political system.

Human rights organisations have reported thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests during the crackdown that followed, although the figures vary depending on the source.

Iranian officials have also claimed that more than 30 million people declared online or at public gatherings in May that they were willing to defend the regime, a figure which, according to the Associated Press, has not been possible to independently verify.