May 19, 2026 / 9:44 AM EDT — CBS/AFP
Iranian authorities staged large public wedding ceremonies in Tehran on Monday for couples who have enrolled in a state-run “self-sacrifice” program that pledges participants are ready to risk their lives in the country’s conflict with the U.S. and Israel.
Hundreds of couples took part in events across several major city squares, with Iranian media reporting more than 100 marriages in the vast Imam Hossein square alone. The ceremonies were shown on state television as part of a broader effort to bolster wartime morale amid a shaky ceasefire and public threats of renewed U.S. military action.
State outlets say those who joined the so-called Jan-fada, or “self-sacrificing,” campaign have pledged to defend the Islamic Republic in various ways — from forming human chains outside power stations to other frontline duties. Officials claim millions have put their names forward, including high-profile figures such as parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The weddings were staged with visible military pageantry. Couples arrived in military jeeps, some vehicles carrying mounted machine guns, and were led onto decorated stages where clerics conducted the ceremonies. Balloons and flowers adorned the platforms, which also displayed a large image of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei; state media noted he has not appeared publicly since being elevated to the role following the killing of his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.
AFP and local photo agencies captured images of brides in white Islamic wedding dresses and grooms in suits, some carried aloft on pink-painted, flower-decorated military vehicles. Mehr news agency recorded interviews with participants: one bride said that, despite the country being at war, young people still have the right to marry; another groom said the timing honored the anniversary of Imam Ali’s marriage to Fatima and expressed the couple’s hope to offer blessings to people in the streets.
The ceremonies were accompanied by pro-regime displays elsewhere in Tehran. Tents were set up on several squares where members of the military offered basic firearms tutorials, and state-sponsored rallies and gatherings have been held almost daily since the conflict began, officials say, to showcase nationwide mobilization.
Mehr reported 110 couples at the Imam Hossein event, while AFP described crowds of onlookers holding roses and watching the processions. Iranian authorities framed the weddings as both a personal celebration and a symbolic demonstration of readiness to defend the republic as tensions with the United States and Israel continue to simmer.
Since the initial wave of joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 ignited the fighting, the country has seen frequent displays of official solidarity and public ceremonies intended to project unity and resolve amid uncertainty about the conflict’s next phase.