In Iran's capital, weapons demonstrations send a signal at home and abroad as threat of war remains

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian Revolutionary Guard members now regularly show the public in Tehran how to handle Kalashnikov-style assault rifles. Parades through the capital feature military vehicles mounted with belt-fed Soviet-era machine guns. And at one mass wedding, a ballistic missile, like the one that rained down cluster munitions on Israel, adorned the stage.

Weapons are now regularly brandished in Tehran, an increasing show of defiance as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens he could restart the war with Iran should negotiations break down and the Islamic Republic refuses to release its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

The weapons displays reflect the genuine threat Iran faces: Trump has suggested American forces could seize Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium by force and previously said that he sent arms to Kurdish fighters to pass onto anti-government protesters.

But they also offer reassurance and motivation to hard-liners and provide rare entertainment at a time of great uncertainty, when Iranians are facing mass layoffs, business closures and spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. Suggesting more hard-liners will be armed could also help suppress any new demonstrations against Iran's theocracy, which violently put down nationwide protests in January in a crackdown that activists say killed over 7,000 people and saw tens of thousands detained.

“This is necessary for all our people to get trained because we are in a war situation these days," said Ali Mofidi, a 47-year-old Tehran resident at a weapons training Tuesday night. "If necessary, everyone should be available and know how to use a gun.”

For months, state television and government-sponsored text messages have bombarded the public with calls to join the “Janfada,” or the “ones who sacrifice their lives.” At one point, hard-liners encouraged families with boys as young as 12 to send them to the Revolutionary Guard to work checkpoints — which Amnesty International denounced as a war crime.

Government officials say more than 30 million people in Iran — home to a population of some 90 million — have volunteered via an online form or at public gatherings to lay down their lives for Iran's theocracy. There is no way to confirm that figure and there's been no sign of a mass mobilization yet, like the one that Ukraine underwent in the days before Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion, in which officials handed out rifles and people banded together to make gasoline bombs.

But there have been several public announcements and presenters have appeared armed during live programs on state TV, as part of efforts to feed the fervor.

“Looking back at the moment I registered my name, I realize I wasn’t truly contemplating the dangers of fighting on the front lines. In that moment, like everyone else, my thoughts were solely on Iran,” wrote journalist Soheila Zarfam in a column for the state-owned Tehran Times newspaper. “My life might end, but Iran would endure, and that was all that truly mattered.”

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has criticized the public weapons demonstrations, particularly footage of young boys handling assault rifles, saying: “Scenes like these are reminiscent of child hostage-taking and arming by groups such as Boko Haram in Nigeria, and militias in Sudan and Congo.”

A recent government-organized demonstration by nomads in Iran saw them carrying everything from bolt-action Lee–Enfield rifles of the British Empire to a blunderbuss, a predecessor of the shotgun more familiar to the age of pirates on the high seas.

But during weeks of an unsteady ceasefire, most of the weapon demonstrations appear focused on Tehran, not the rural areas where there is a tradition of keeping rifles and shotguns at home.

At a demonstration Tuesday night in Tehran, male and female participants divided into separate classes. Hadi Khoosheh, a member of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force and trainer, demonstrated how to handle a folding-stock Kalashnikov-style assault rifle.

“At the end of the training those who completed the course will receive a card titled 'Janfada,' proving they have received basic and preliminary training for this type of gun and they are able to use it if, God forbid, something happens to our country," Khoosheh said.

However, the weapons training was rudimentary at best for the young boys and older men gathered. One struggled to insert the rifle's magazine and inadvertently pointed the barrel of the unloaded weapon at others — a major safety breach that people are taught to avoid in basic firearms training.

“Definitely we will stand against (the Americans) and won’t give up even an inch of our soil," said Mofidi, the man at the training. "No matter if they come from the sea or land, we will stand by our flag.”

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

A boy handles a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle during a weapons training class led by members of the Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Bakhtiari nomads, wearing traditional dress, chant slogans as one of them holds a gun during a pro-government gathering near the residence where former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A member of the Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force demonstrates how to handle a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle during a weapons training class in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A member of the Revolutionary Guard's volunteer Basij force demonstrates how to handle a Kalashnikov-style assault rifle during a weapons training class in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A group of girls stand beside a "Khaybar-buster" missile during a mass wedding ceremony for couples participating in the "Janfada" ("Sacrifice for Iran") pro-government campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Firefighters responding to a blaze that destroyed a massive medical equipment warehouse in Northern California and sent embers flying for miles were hindered by sprinklers and hydrants that weren't working, authorities said Friday.

The 1 million-square-foot (93,000-square-meter) warehouse in Tracy, a city about 55 miles (88.5 kilometers) east of San Francisco, supplied medical equipment to area hospitals. It's owned by Medline, a major medical-surgical products provider of equipment such as latex gloves, masks, surgical instruments and other medical supplies.

Thick black smoke billowed Friday from the site, as firefighters continued to put out hot spots.

Authorities said they don’t yet know why the water system failed during the blaze but it appeared to be a problem with the facility’s system, not city supply.

Local fire codes generally require large warehouses to have hydrants and sprinklers and ensure both are functioning, said Brian O'Connor, a licensed fire protection engineer with the National Fire Protection Association.

“If you have a large facility, it can be difficult for firefighters to stretch a hose from the closest public hydrant to the building,” he said.

Crews responding to the blaze that broke out around 1 p.m. Thursday encountered flames on the roof and noticed no water coming out of sprinklers in the building, Tracy Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bagley said. A fire official found a pump was pushing little to no water through both the sprinklers and on-site hydrants, he said.

Firefighters were forced to try to connect to city hydrants instead. The building was engulfed by fire within 40 minutes, Bagley said.

"It’s very, very challenging,” Bagley told reporters. “You can imagine it's a skyscraper laying on its side.”

The facility had been evacuated, and no one was injured. The massive warehouse was one of more than 50 distribution centers across the country for Medline, which according to its online catalog sells bandages, wheelchairs, catheters, hospital beds and many other medical supplies.

It is not clear what exactly was stored at the Tracy warehouse but the company said in a statement that the facility was mainly serving Northern California hospitals and that following the fire, it activated a contingency plan.

“Product distribution previously supported by the Tracy facility has been reassigned and it is in the process of being deployed to other facilities within our regional network to help maintain service and support customer needs,” Medline said.

Bagley said crews on Friday were trying to give drivers access to the property to remove trailers loaded with medical equipment that were not affected by the fire.

Mary Massey, who is in charge of the hospital preparedness program at the California Hospital Association, said it was too early to know the impact on medical supplies for regional hospitals but that most medical service providers have cooperation agreements to get urgent supplies if needed.

“We write plans for these kinds of things and we work together, not just hospitals, but also clinics, long-term care, dialysis, public health, ambulances. We all work together,” she said.

Embers from the blaze sparked two grass fires, and set pallets and multiple big rig trailers at a nearby FedEx facility ablaze. Firefighters were able to knock those fires down.

Crews overnight had to contend with new fires in trailers that were loaded with supplies.

Bagley said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would help investigate the cause of the blaze, but authorities would probably not be able to get into the warehouse for at least a couple of more days. The sprinkler system had been tested in January by an outside company and no issues were found, Bagley said.

Fire officials were still working on Friday to gather additional information about inspections of the warehouse's water systems, said Nicole Boswell, a spokesperson for the fire department. She said local fire officials also conduct annual inspections of businesses, including their water systems, but she did not know what the fire department found during their recent inspection of the warehouse.

The warehouse is in a massive industrial park that also houses fulfillment and distribution centers for Amazon, Home Depot and FedEx.

No homes were evacuated. Bagley recommended people near the fire stay indoors but said air quality tests had not raised any “grave concerns.”

Smoke is seen from the massive fire at the Medline medical supply warehouse a million-foot facility, in Tracy, Calif., Friday, June 12, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Livermore Mayor John Marchand takes a photo of smoke from a medical supply warehouse fire in Tracy, Calif., as seen from Livermore on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Smoke is seen from the massive fire at the Medline medical supply warehouse in Tracy, Calif., Friday, June 12, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Smoke from a medical supply warehouse fire in Tracy, Calif., is seen from Livermore on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

This image from aerial video shows black smoke pouring into the sky from a fire at a medical equipment warehouse in Tracy, Calif., Thursday, June 11, 2026. (KGO via AP)