Civilians Receive Military Training in Tehran: From Firearms Drills to Ziplines, Women Join the Program

The Difference Between Training and Combat

It is important to distinguish participation in a training exercise from participation in actual combat.

The photographs document training.

They do not establish that the participants were deployed to a battlefield or that they were members of Iran’s regular armed forces.

This distinction is essential when interpreting photographs from wartime environments.

Military-style equipment and activities can create powerful imagery, but the context matters.

The event shown in Tehran was a civilian training program for people who had registered voluntarily.

The Human Side of the Event

Beyond the political context, the photographs also show individual people participating in an unusual experience.

For many participants, this may have been their first exposure to a structured military-style training environment.

They appear alongside other civilians rather than professional soldiers.

The experience can therefore be understood not only as a political event but also as a social gathering shaped by the circumstances of conflict.

People meet one another, receive instruction and participate in activities that are outside their normal routines.

Young and Older Participants

Civilian preparedness programs can attract people from different age groups.

Although the available photographs should not be used to assign precise ages to individual participants, the diversity of people visible in the event reinforces its civilian character.

The program is not depicted as a conventional professional military exercise.

Instead, the images show ordinary members of society participating in an organized initiative.

This distinction is one of the main reasons the photographs have generated international interest.

October 6, 2026 | 5:19 pm