Volunteers in Tehran are being trained to use firearms, drones and anti-tank weapons as part of a ‘popular defense’ campaign
Published 28 Sep, 2026 22:01
FILE PHOTO. © Sobhan Farajvan/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
Iranian women have been flocking to Imam Hossein Square in central Tehran to receive basic military and first-aid training as part of the ‘Sacrifice for Iran’ popular campaign.
The training center was inaugurated there last Wednesday, with the commander of the Basij paramilitary force, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, attending the opening ceremony.
According to Iranian media, the movement emerged as a grassroots initiative in late March, at the height of the US-Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic. It is based on the concept of ‘popular defense,’ which traces its roots to the bloody Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.
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The number of civilian volunteers, including dozens of women, enrolling in the training course has risen recently amid renewed threats from US President Donald Trump, RT’s Saman Kojouri reports from Tehran.
Participants register online and first receive basic training in handling weapons, including firearms, small drones, and shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, as well as in tactical medicine. Volunteers subsequently have the option to progress to more advanced training.
