This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images]
This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images]

Iranian women are voluntarily joining military training programs in preparation for a possible US attack, according to reports.

Videos and photos released by Iranian media, cited by the British daily The Telegraph on Monday (local time), show women in uniforms or chadors — the full-length black garments worn by women in Islamic societies — training on military parade grounds, Yonhap said.

The women are learning a range of skills, from military drills and urban search operations to city defense techniques, and are being trained to handle AK rifles, sniper rifles, RPG anti-tank rockets and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

The program also includes physical conditioning similar to commando training, as well as courses in first aid, firefighting and reconnaissance designed specifically for women.

The movement is part of "Janfada" — meaning "those who sacrifice their lives" — a mass mobilization campaign launched after war broke out last February.

The Basij militia, a paramilitary organization under Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is leading the campaign under the slogan "national resistance." Iranian media claim that 500,000 volunteers signed up within 100 minutes of recruitment opening.

The Telegraph reported that the first women's volunteer training site was set up at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran, with at least 14 locations now operating in the capital alone.

Sasan Zare, a spokesperson for the Janfada movement, said the campaign plans to organize 1,000 community-based relief and rescue units in cooperation with the Red Crescent Society. "Women make up the highest proportion of volunteers. Even an 80-year-old grandmother signed up," he said.

Iran's top security chief effectively admits country facing 'most difficult period in history'

Amid the turmoil, Iran's top security official has made an unusually candid admission that the country's economy is enduring its most difficult period in history as a result of more than seven months of war with the United States.

According to The New York Times on Sunday, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, made the remarks at a high-level government meeting held Monday, Yonhap said.

Iranian state media did not directly quote Rezaei at the time. However, the state news agency IRNA reported that he "described the current situation as one of the most difficult periods Iran has ever faced." It also said he told the meeting that the National Security Council would provide all possible support.

Iran's economy has deteriorated rapidly since the war began with a surprise attack by the United States and Israel last February.

The value of Iran's currency, the rial, has plummeted since the war began, and the decline has accelerated in recent weeks as the US tightened sanctions and imposed a maritime blockade.

As the currency loses value, the prices of imported goods have risen, placing a growing burden on ordinary citizens.

Negotiations between the United States and Iran have also stalled, deepening the economic pressure on Tehran.


yul@heraldcorp.com