Iran stages mass weddings for couples ready for war ‘sacrifice’

A bride and groom hold a rose as they pose for pictures during a mass wedding ceremony for participants in the "Janfada" pro-government campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the U.S. and Israel.

The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media.

They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on Feb. 28.

Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the so-called “self-sacrifice” scheme (janfada in Persian) where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations.

Iranian authorities say millions of people, including top figures such as speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian, have put their names forward.

Couples arrived at the Imam Hossein square in military jeeps with mounted machine guns and were married on a stage in a ceremony presided over by a cleric, AFP images showed.

The stage was festooned with balloons and with a giant image of supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being elevated to the position after the killing of his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.

“Certainly, the country is at war, but young people also have the right to marry,” one young woman in a white Islamic bridal dress, who was not named, said beside her groom in footage published by the Mehr news agency.

A man in a dark suit, beside his bride-to-be, said they were happy the occasion marked the anniversary of the marriage of Imam Ali, revered by Shia Muslims, to Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.

“We received their blessings. Furthermore, we came to offer our best wishes to the people in the streets,” he said.

Mehr said 110 couples had taken part in the Imam Hossein square ceremony alone. The AFP images showed crowds of well-wishers clasping roses and watching on.

Since the start of the war, Iranian authorities have held on a near-daily basis major pro-government gatherings in a bid to highlight popular mobilization amid the conflict.

AFP