Iran parades armed women in streets as questions over AI videos grow

News World Iran {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.euronews.com"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"http:\/\/www.euronews.com\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"World","item":"http:\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/international"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Iran","item":"http:\/\/www.euronews.com\/news\/asia\/iran"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Iran parades armed women in streets as questions over AI videos grow"}]} Iran parades armed women in streets as questions over AI videos grow Image of a parade of pro-government women in Mashhad - Copyright خبرگزاری تسنیم Copyright خبرگزاری تسنیم By Euronews Persian Published on 28/04/2026 - 11:25 GMT+2 Share Comments Share Facebook Twitter Flipboard Send Reddit Linkedin Messenger Telegram VK Bluesky Threads Whatsapp Videos emerging on social media from Iran appear to show armed Iranian women parading with IRGC in several cities in an upsurge of nationalist and religious fervour, dubbed as a “jihad of women”, but some clips spark AI editing doubts and remain unverified. Videos emerging from Iran on social media appear to show women carrying Kalashnikov rifles and riding in armoured vehicles mounted with machine guns through streets in at least six Iranian cities, in displays promoted by state media as evidence of women's participation in the country's war effort. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The footage, claimed to have been shot in Rasht, Tehran, Mashhad, Qom, Bushehr and Qazvin, shows the women moving in organised convoys alongside IRGC personnel, who can be heard chanting pro-regime slogans. Iranian state television has broadcast some of the clips. IRGC-affiliated outlets have described the parades as part of what they call the "jihad of women" in support of the Islamic Republic. armed women supporting the government in Iran FarsNews Agency Some of the footage has since been questioned. Researchers and social media users have pointed to visual inconsistencies that they say could indicate AI-generated content or digital editing. Euronews could not independently verify the videos. Iranian authorities have not acknowledged any of the material as fabricated. Some women visible in the footage are not wearing the full hijab mandated under Iranian law, a detail that has drawn attention, given Tehran's decades-long enforcement of dress codes. The use of women in state messaging is not new to the Islamic Republic. Since the 1979 revolution, official media have portrayed women as "mothers of martyrs" and as volunteers for the Basij paramilitary force, in a supporting role. During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, such imagery was deployed extensively. Armed street parades of this kind are a departure from that pattern. armed women supporting the government in Mashhad FarsNews Agency The footage has emerged as Iran faces its worst domestic crisis in decades amid the war. Right before the ongoing war with the US and Israel, protests that began in December 2025 triggered by the collapse of the rial spread to at least 180 cities before security forces mounted a crackdown on 8 and 9 January 2026, in which thousands were killed. Iran's Supreme Council of National Security put the death toll at 3,117. The UN Special Rapporteur on Iran said the figure was at least 5,000, while insiders in Iran and human rights organisations fear the number could…

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