Iran's First Military Training Centre for Women Volunteers Opens at Tehran's Azadi Square Under the Janfada Campaign
Iran's first military training centre dedicated to women volunteers was unveiled on November 10 on the western side of Azadi Square in the capital, Tehran. At the opening, uniformed women carrying assault rifles rappelled down a structure and rode a zip line. Associated Press photographs documented the unveiling the same day.
The centre is part of the Janfada campaign — Janfada is Persian for those ready to sacrifice their lives for Iran. Volunteer registration began in March 2026, and the campaign is run through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Greater Tehran corps and its women's Basij organisation, whose head is Sudabeh Akbari. Similar Janfada centres already operate at Imam Hossein, Haft-e Tir and Tajrish squares.
Organisers say the training covers sniper rifles, Kalashnikovs, DShK heavy machine guns, handguns, shoulder-fired weapons and micro-drones, as well as first aid, urban defence, air defence, search-and-rescue and firefighting, and is framed as preparation for a possible renewed war with the United States or Israel, including a possible U.S. ground assault.
Revolutionary Guard Brigadier General Alireza Salarkia said 33 million people have signed up to Janfada, nearly half of them women. That figure has not been independently verified.
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 德黑兰Azadi广场与Azadi塔（资料图）。图：Parsa_2au，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源 / Azadi Square and Azadi Tower in Tehran (file photo). Photo by Parsa_2au, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
