Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Tehran as Iran Unveils New Paramilitary Formation
Iran held a mass march displaying air-defence batteries and volunteer forces; the IRGC commander said 600.000 people registered for the new unit.
Iranian authorities staged a mass march in Tehran, drawing what officials said were hundreds of thousands of participants to demonstrate unity and resolve in defence of the theocratic regime amid its confrontation with the United States.
Display of new volunteer force and air-defence hardware
The centerpiece of the rally was a newly formed paramilitary unit made up of civilians who have received basic military training and been shown how to handle automatic weapons. Organizers presented the corps as ready to sacrifice for the country.
Authorities also displayed portions of the country’s air-defence batteries during the event, a response to recent claims that those systems had been nearly destroyed by strikes attributed to Israel and the United States.
The volunteer formation is to operate separately from the established Basij, though both fall under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The IRGC commander, General Hassan Hassanzadeh, said that 600.000 Iranians have signed up to join the new force.
At the rally, residents voiced militant support for the regime. Fatemeh Amiri said: "I will fight them with this gun, even without a gun; with our faith in God we will surely defeat them. It is God's will that this people will prevail."
Zahra Mofrat added: "We came to tell the baby-killers, the enemies Israel and America, that we will support this revolution to the last drop of blood. We'll slap them in the face again."
Photo: press material from the event
