As the war that began between the US and Iran on February 28, 2026, continued, one month later—on March 28—the Janfada Iran People’s Headquarters launched the “Janfada” (Janfada-yi Iran) campaign. It announced the establishment of 1,000 new resistance battalions with the participation of 1 million volunteers, and that volunteer registration would begin. Web portals, SMS channels, telephone lines, and registration centers were set up across Iran to enlist individuals aged 12 and older into this mobilization.

Starting September 15, calls for volunteer registration for the Janfada battalions began to be issued. Billboards inviting citizens to join the campaign were placed in cities throughout Iran; it was announced that volunteers would be provided with military training as well as first aid and search-and-rescue training. Promotional visuals featured Kalashnikov assault rifles, sniper rifles, man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), navigation devices, and diving equipment, asking viewers whether they knew how to use them. What initially appeared as a simple online registration platform was rapidly transformed in September into an aggressive, highly visible nationwide campaign for military training and civil mobilization.

It was an interesting development that this system—which emerged during a period when the war with the US was raging fiercely and an American ground invasion was on the agenda, yet remained passive—was activated precisely at the beginning of September when the end of the war was being discussed.

According to a statement made by Sasan Zare, Spokesperson for the Janfada Campaign, 31 million people had registered in the system, with the following demographic breakdown: 68% male, 32% female, and more than 60% under the age of 46. Of those registered, 26% declared that they were prepared to take direct part in active combat, military, and security operations.

The organizational infrastructure and the training of volunteers were conducted by the Basij organization, which is directly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). To ensure unity around regime ideology, the Basij turned neighborhood-level mosques and local cultural centers into military bases. Media reports indicated that as of September 15, 2026, Basij commanders began providing registered volunteers at mosques and military centers with comprehensive training, including light weapons assembly, marksmanship, first aid, and search-and-rescue. Training on “ensuring security, surveillance, control, and intelligence measures” also stood out prominently in the volunteers’ curriculum.

Three days after official registrations opened, on September 18, a massive military parade and public exercise was held in the capital, Tehran. It brought together Basij units, Janfada-yi Iran volunteers, and other participants, with a reported attendance of 313,000 people. President Masoud Pezeshkian also attended the event. Speaking at the ceremony, Hossein Taeb, head of the Basij Organization, described the Janfada initiative as the “popularization of defense and security,” stating that this community was a symbol of Iran’s progress and the country’s republican character. Taeb noted that the campaign would expand beyond Tehran to other regions of Iran, expressing that “tens of millions” of citizens were ready to volunteer.[i]

At a time when the American military had removed a ground invasion of Iran from its agenda—an invasion that was geographically impossible to begin with—and when talks of ending the war in the coming days were circulating, the acceleration of this mobilization, the swift arming and military training of registered volunteers, and thousands of them demonstrating in public squares armed with weapons was striking.

Why was this necessary?

Organizations like FactNameh that investigated the matter noted that it was mathematically and technically impossible for 31 million people—representing over 30% of Iran’s current population (approximately 90 million)—to register for this mobilization, asserting that the number was inflated.[ii] According to their data, it was impossible for the number of people accessing and registering in the system to exceed 4 million.

Analysts argue that rather than a military mobilization, this campaign is a propaganda effort designed both to create a psychological deterrent against the outside world and to present an illusion of “absolute loyalty to the regime” to the domestic public.

On the other hand, the fact that the Janfada battalions are managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and........

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