Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is rolling out a nationwide civilian militarisation programme called Janfada — 'those who sacrifice their life' — across all 31 provinces. Launched in late March at the peak of hostilities with the US and Israel, the campaign recruits men, women, and increasingly children into weapons training, ideological rallies, and paramilitary exercises. Ali Kowsari, the Basij's deputy for training, announced plans to use at least 14 main squares in Tehran alone as permanent training stations, with expansion to every provincial capital. The government claims 33 million Iranians have registered — more than a third of the total population, or over half of everyone above age 12. Foreign-based activists who accessed the website's source code found fewer than four million registrants. Registration required only a phone number, no national ID. The 8× inflation is not an accident; it is the output the campaign is designed to produce. The timing is not coincidental. January's nationwide protests spanned more than 400 counties across every province. Thousands of civilians were killed by gunshots and stab wounds. The government labels these protests a US-Israeli 'coup' attempt and has rejected a UN fact-finding mission's conclusion that the crackdown constituted crimes against humanity. Janfada functions as a post-protest loyalty display that doubles as deterrence against future unrest. The campaign's geographic deployment tells the story. Armed exercises in Kurdistan province, bordering Iraq, were framed by IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency as Shia-Sunni 'unity.' Human rights groups call them intimidation. In Gilan province, nighttime rallies with loudspeakers and revolutionary music drew enough resident anger that an October confrontation in Rasht escalated into a brawl. In Alborz province near Tehran, authorities warned residents to expect explosions from exercises. The programme imposes itself on daily life as a deliberate show of force. Children are now a primary recruitment vector. Education Minister Alireza Kazemi confirmed that Basij is registering 'student Janfadas' in schools, with more ceremonies involving children planned. This is not civil defence training — it is ideological imprinting through militarisation, using the education system as a distribution channel. Georgetown professor Mehran Kamrava offers the clearest diagnostic: 'Revolutions are like riding a bicycle. To avoid a nasty fall, you must pedal hard.' The war with the US and Israel has opened space for the IRGC's hardline revolutionary faction to stage 'choreographed displays of political and ideological loyalty.' Janfada deepens existing regime support without broadening it. It reinforces the siege mentality that sustains revolutionary legitimacy among true believers. The practical ask is revealing: registrants are told to consume less fuel, electricity, and resources to ease wartime pressure. The state is converting a loyalty programme into an austerity programme — asking civilians to bear the costs of sanctions and blockade as a patriotic duty while arming them against their own neighbours who protested months earlier. After eight months of attritional war that has killed thousands and degraded civilian infrastructure, the regime is investing in the one resource it can still manufacture cheaply: organised political loyalty backed by small arms.
