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Iran has opened an all-women military training camp in Tehran, where women volunteers are being taught to handle assault rifles, fire sniper rifles and rappel down walls as the authorities prepare civilians for what they say could be a renewed war with the United States and Israel, including a possible American ground assault.
The camp, at Azadi Square in western Tehran, was opened on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. At the opening ceremony, women carrying assault rifles rappelled down a wall and rode a zip line, and some had brought young children with them. The facility is the first in the capital set aside specifically for women volunteers, and the fourth civilian military training centre in Tehran under the Janfada campaign.
Janfada, a Persian term for people ready to sacrifice their lives for Iran, began registering volunteers in March. The volunteers are organised into small units and battalions and trained in urban defence, weapons handling, air defence, search and rescue and firefighting. Similar centres for volunteers have opened elsewhere in Tehran, including at Imam Hossein Square, Haft-e Tir Square and Tajrish Square.
A light weapons instructor told the West Asia News Agency that the courses at the new centre include sniper rifle shooting, handling Kalashnikov rifles, the DShK heavy machine gun, handguns and shoulder-fired weapons. Sudabeh Akbari, who heads the women’s Basij organisation in the Revolutionary Guards’ Greater Tehran corps, said women would also train with micro-drones and in first aid. Military service is compulsory for men in Iran but not for women, who have mostly served in support roles.
Brigadier General Alireza Salarkia, a deputy coordinator of the same corps, said 33 million people had signed up to the campaign and that nearly half were women, according to the West Asia News Agency. The figure could not be independently verified.
The opening came as Washington and Tehran trade warnings over the war. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that economic pressure on Iran meant there was no need for major new combat operations, while Iranian officials have denied that any talks with the United States are under way. Iran’s top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said there are currently no negotiations between Tehran and Washington.