What We Know About Iran's Janfada Mass Mobilization Drive

Tehran, Iran — Banners across the capital carry an image of a rocket-propelled grenade, a sniper rifle or a piece of military communications gear, above a single question: “Do you know how to work with this?” The signage is the public face of Janfada, a state mobilization campaign that authorities have expanded since launching it in late March, according to Al Jazeera.

What is the Janfada campaign?

Janfada, which translates as “those who sacrifice their life,” trains and arms volunteer civilians to serve under the Basij militia, the paramilitary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The drive began at the peak of Iran's war with the United States and Israel and has continued since, Al Jazeera reported.

“Do you know how to work with this?”

That line, printed beside images of weapons and equipment on banners citywide, frames the recruitment pitch to ordinary residents.

How many people have registered?

Hassan Hassanzadeh, the IRGC's Tehran chief, told state broadcaster IRIB that more than 600,000 people signed up this week for the campaign's active mobilization phase through an official website. Authorities have said they expect more than one million registrants and that 1,000 initial units — described as “battalions” — have already been formed, according to Al Jazeera.

Why are the registration figures disputed?

A month after the March launch, authorities claimed more than 31 million people — over a third of Iran's population and more than half of residents over age 12 — had registered. Foreign-based activists who examined the website's source code found fewer than four million actual registrations, Al Jazeera reported. The gap between the two figures has fueled skepticism about the campaign's real scale.

What happened at Friday's parade in Tehran?

Janfada recruits held their first public “military exercise” on Friday, when thousands of children, women and men — many masked and wearing sunglasses — marched through downtown Tehran. Iranian authorities had promoted the event as a march of 313,000 people, a figure that state television footage did not appear to support, according to Al Jazeera. In Twelver Shia tradition, 313 refers to the companions of the Mahdi, the messianic figure expected to reappear and establish justice — a religious resonance embedded in the campaign's framing.

Women affiliated with the IRGC carried rifles during the parade, images distributed by The Associated Press show.

What to watch

• Whether the reported 600,000 active-phase registrants grows toward the stated goal of one million, and whether independent verification of that figure emerges.
• Additional public exercises or parades beyond Friday's Tehran march, and whether turnout claims are challenged again.
• Any shift in the state of talks or hostilities between Iran, the United States and Israel that could affect the campaign's pace.
• Further scrutiny of Janfada's registration website by outside researchers following April's discrepancy over sign-up numbers.