Iranian state television channels have in recent days broadcast multiple programs featuring members of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), often with their faces covered, demonstrating the use of light and heavier weapons.
The televised demonstrations included Kalashnikov rifles, PK machine guns and shoulder-fired RPG launchers.
The channels also showed footage of women, men, teenagers and young people learning how to use and disassemble weapons in mosques and nighttime gatherings organized by government supporters.
Participants shown in the broadcasts said they had volunteered “to defend the country” and “the system.”
One of the most criticized broadcasts aired on Ofogh TV under the title “War Headquarters.”
In the program, after receiving instruction from an IRGC member, the presenter pointed a weapon toward an image displaying the flag of the United Arab Emirates and fired at it.
Relations between Iran and the UAE, long one of Iran’s largest trading partners, have sharply deteriorated following the recent regional conflict.
Reports indicate that the UAE has expelled many Iranian nationals in recent months.
The reformist newspaper Sazandegi wrote: “Shooting at the flag of a neighboring country has left public opinion shocked and astonished.”
A reader commenting on the Rouydad24 news website wrote: “Television presenters firing at the UAE flag on state TV have handed Iran’s enemies a perfect excuse for Iranophobia. Perhaps the shooting segment itself was orchestrated by infiltrators or a fifth column.”
In another televised segment, an IRGC member demonstrated shooting techniques using an unloaded Kalashnikov while aiming at an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displayed on a studio wall.
After him, the presenter pointed the weapon toward the forehead of US President Donald Trump and said: “I hope these bullets will one day hit their target.”
State broadcaster defends the programs
Officials from Iran’s state broadcasting organization, IRIB, defended the scenes.
Mohsen Bormahani, deputy head of IRIB, told the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency: “In wartime conditions, and in a country simultaneously engaged in struggle against all the powers and oppression in the world, it is natural for the national media to adopt a wartime posture.”
Bormahani said familiarizing young people and the general public with weapons helped them “become acquainted with the concepts of jihad, resistance, and defense, and strengthen their sense of responsibility and readiness within the framework of religious, cultural, Iranian, and Islamic values.”
He said the appearance of television hosts carrying weapons served as “a reminder of these teachings to the public.”
Hassan Abedini, political deputy of IRIB, separately told Mehr News Agency that the displays were symbolic and intended to project military readiness among government-backed war volunteers.
Media criticism and public anxiety
Several Iranian media outlets sharply criticized the broadcasts and warned that they could create widespread feelings of insecurity.
Rouydad24 wrote: “Broadcasting weapons training on television, in a country that already has an army, the IRGC, security forces, the Basij, and millions of men with mandatory military training, raises a troubling question more than it demonstrates ‘strength’: who exactly are these training programs intended for, and what situation are people being prepared for?”
The outlet added: “If the country’s official television suddenly starts teaching the general public how to use weapons, the question arises whether such an action unintentionally conveys the message that the official guarantors of security are no longer sufficient.”
Rouydad24 warned that the broadcasts presented “a future in which ordinary citizens must prepare themselves for the collapse of order – a situation where weapons have left the barracks and people are forced to defend their homes and streets themselves. This is precisely the image governments usually try never to convey to society.”
The conservative news website Khabar Online also criticized the broadcaster, writing that IRIB may have intended to signal to foreign enemies that “all segments of the nation are ready for battle,” or to project unity at home.
But it said media experts viewed the approach as poor judgment.
Warnings about psychological harm
Khabar Online warned that the broadcasts reproduced “guerrilla and paramilitary imagery that belongs in barracks, not on national television.”
It added: “Seeing a television presenter holding an assault rifle not only fails to create a sense of security, but also intensifies feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and war trauma among the public, especially children and vulnerable groups.”
The reformist newspaper Sazandegi also warned that the episode had raised serious concerns for the psychological security of society and the country’s international image.
It wrote: “Promoting militarism in general television programming creates a tense and anxious atmosphere in society. The proper place for displays of military power is training grounds and official parades, not the live studio of a nationwide television channel with a cultural and social mission.”
Critics see message to opponents
Some critics said the televised weapons displays appeared aimed less at a foreign enemy than at political opponents inside the country, amid growing public frustration and economic strain.
Iranian sociologist Hossein Ghazian told Iran International that the broadcasts symbolized political repression and were intended to pressure critics into silence while also justifying economic hardships through a wartime atmosphere.
One commenter on Rouydad24, referring to the deadly crackdown on protests in January, wrote: “This criminal cult is preparing for the massacre of defenseless and unarmed ordinary people, just like before, and dark days are certainly ahead. Otherwise, with these worn-out Kalashnikovs, against whom are they planning to fight? Are they going to fight F-35s, F-18s, and F-22s with these?”
