Tehran’s Scripted Enthusiasm

In Iran’s major urban centers, public life is increasingly squeezed between revolutionary anthems and small-arms instruction. Under the label of Janfada—or those who sacrifice their life—the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij militia have turned city squares into recruitment kiosks. Passersby in provincial capitals are invited to practice loading live rounds into pistols, while loudspeakers blast state slogans into the night air.

This nationwide mobilization campaign, launched during military friction involving the United States and Israel, is less about functional defense and far more about domestic control. Following the severe suppression of nationwide demonstrations earlier this year, in which thousands of civilians were killed, the establishment in Tehran requires a visible demonstration of political devotion.

To project an image of total consensus, official propaganda claims that over 33 million citizens have registered online. Technical reality tells a different story. Independent activists who examined the portal's underlying source code found fewer than four million sign-ups, collected through a process requiring nothing more than a phone number.

Yet statistical rigor has never been the primary currency of state-engineered enthusiasm. The objective is psychological saturation. In Tehran alone, militia leaders like Ali Kowsari plan to convert at least 14 central squares into permanent training posts, replicating the setup across all 31 provinces. The campaign has also reached schools, where Education Minister Alireza Kazemi noted that militia groups are actively enlisting student participants.

Nematollah Bagheri, a provincial commander for the Revolutionary Guard, explicitly outlined the ideological objective, stating that the aim is to show that, just as the government supports the people, the people support the Islamic Republic and the Islamic revolution. Yet not all residents welcome the intrusion. In the northern city of Rasht, local anger over blocked thoroughfares and nocturnal noise escalated into physical brawls. In Alborz province, authorities resorted to issuing public warnings ahead of loud military detonations near residential zones.

As Georgetown University professor Mehran Kamrava observed, revolutionary regimes operate much like riding a bicycle: to avoid falling, the leadership must keep pedaling. By linking civic participation to resource rationing and public drills, the state attempts to fortify its loyalist core while enforcing a collective siege mindset.

Written by Martina Kirchner martina.kirchner@alpineweekly.com