The weapon displays reflect the genuine threat Iran faces but also provide rare entertainment at a time of great uncertainty
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAssociated PressPublished: 8:18pm, 20 May 2026Iranian 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.
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 on to anti-government protesters.
But they also offer reassurance and motivation to hardliners and provide rare entertainment at a time of great uncertainty, when Iranians are facing mass lay-offs, business closures and spiralling prices for food, medicine and other goods.
