Army Day Parade Canceled Over “War Conditions” in Iran

Mohammad Akraminia, spokesperson for the Army of the Islamic Republic, said this year’s Army Day parade cannot be held, saying the “current ceasefire is no different from war conditions.”

Speaking on a televised program, Akraminia said: “For us, the current ceasefire does not differ much from war conditions; therefore, it is not possible to hold the parade in cities as in previous years.”

The April 1 parade, marked as Army Day in the Islamic Republic’s calendar, has been held since 1979 and continued even during the Iran-Iraq War in Tehran and several other cities. It was first canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while in the following year it was held only as a motorized event due to health restrictions.

Akraminia said that instead of the parade this year, cultural programs will be organized in cities and barracks. He added that army commanders and personnel will also attend Friday prayers and deliver speeches before the sermons.

Since the start of the forty-day war, several state ceremonies in Iran have been canceled. Most notably, the funeral and burial of former leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war, still have not taken place nearly fifty days later.