Hundreds of thousands in Iran say they're ready to pick up weapons

Sfollowing the report of the Associated Press (AP), large thousands of protesters marched through downtown Tehran in military uniforms and carrying flags, swearing to take up arms to defend the country from the attacks of the United States and Israel, initiated on 28 February, while the assistance applauded, in the presence of senior leaders of the Islamic Republic.

For several days, the state media encouraged the Iranians to join a military volunteer campaign, indicating that training with assault weapons would soon begin.

Volunteers would be an additional layer of security for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the ideological force of the regime, and for the Basij militias, which played a central role in the repression of anti-government protests earlier this year, which resulted in thousands of dead and detained.

Estimates vary on the number of people who volunteered to receive military training and defend the country, or “those who sacrifice their lives for Iran.”.

Tehran Guard Chief Hassan Hassanzadeh told the state station that more than 600,000 people signed up to participate, with more than a million expected in the formation.

This morning, according to the Tasnim news agency, more than 300,000 people were on the streets of Tehran.

The new head of the Basij militia, Hossein Taeb, stated in a speech at the beginning of the demonstration that volunteers will be ready for “complete defense” and that similar concentrations will take place in other cities soon.

The new recruits will be “a nightmare” for Iran’s enemies, Taeb continued, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, military commanders and several other senior leaders attended the march.

Some participants set foot flags in the United States and Israel and others shouted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”.

“ I am here to tell [American President Donald] Trump that we Iranians are not afraid of his threats against our homeland,” said 24 year-old Marzieh Afaghi, who attended the protest with his little son and husband, adding that “no one in history has managed to invade Iran and remain there.”

The protest was also an opportunity for Iran to display its military power.

Antiaircraft batteries were on display, while female members of the Revolutionary Guard, with black handkerchiefs on their heads, sat next to machine guns mounted on trucks.

The Tehran Government has sought to mobilize the population and called for national unity, in full worsening of the national economy due to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and new Washington sanctions, following the collapse of indirect peace negotiations.

The Revolutionary Guard exhibited drones that have been used against commercial ships in the Strait of Ormuz, where Iranian military attacks and threats seriously affected maritime traffic in the maritime passage that ensured the transport of 20% of world hydrocarbons before the war.

Iran claimed today to have attacked an oil tanker with the Togo flag, the “Trend,” after an “illegal attempt” to pass through the Strait of Ormuz, state agencies reported.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) reported that an oil tanker was hit by a projectile, causing a fire on board, which has now been extinguished.

In a separate update, UKMTO indicated that the crossings of ships facilitated by the U.S. military on the coast of Oman had an average of 24 per day in the last week, but overall traffic remains about 90% lower compared to the period before the war.

Alongside the demonstration in the capital, Iranian government today criticized the “gross propaganda” of the United States, stating that Washington “seems to think that nations have neither memory nor critical thinking ability.”.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, noted that the United States treats the world as if it were “a hive where minds are expected to be shut down, eyes fixed on Washington’s lips and their narrative swallowed without question.”.

In a social media publication, Baghaei accused the United States of fighting “a brutal economic war, deliberately planned to inflict maximum pain and suffering on Iranian citizens.”.

Washington and Tehran agreed on 17 June a memorandum of understanding, with mediation from Middle East countries, which included an immediate ceasefire, the reopening of the Ormuz Strait to maritime traffic and the lifting of the US naval blockade to Iran's ports.

However, the parties returned to their naval blockades and did not continue the negotiations provided for in the Memorandum to reach a definitive peace agreement, the two-month deadline of which expired.

In addition to the resumption of hostilities, the United States announced an “economic war” aimed at suffocating Iran through sanctions against individuals and entities establishing trade relations with the Islamic Republic.

Iran demands that the United States return to the commitments made in the memorandum and has reiterated that the military threat in the Strait of Ormuz will only be lifted in exchange for the end of the war on all fronts and the end of the US blockade.

After the strangulation of the Strait of Ormuz, the Huthis rebels of Yemen, allies of Tehran, also threatened the commercial navigation of Saudi ships in the Red Sea.