Iranian officials have held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who have signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring they are ready to sacrifice their lives in a war against the US and Israel.

Hundreds of couples took part in the ceremony held on Monday night in several major squares in the capital, with a larger ceremony in central Tehran, with more than 100 couples.

The ceremonies were broadcast on state television in an attempt to boost wartime morale as US President Donald Trump threatened new military action against Iran amid a ceasefire that began on February 28.

According to Iranian media, those involved had signed up for the so-called ‘voluntary-sacrifice (janfada) scheme’ and pledged to form human chains outside power stations and dedicate their lives to the country in the war.

Iranian officials say hundreds of thousands of people have signed up for the war, including top figures such as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Massoud Pejeskian.

Couples arriving in military jeeps armed with machine guns at Imam Hussein Square were married on stage in a ceremony presided over by a cleric.

The stage was filled with balloons and a giant picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since his promotion following the assassination of his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.

“Of course the country is at war, but young people also have the right to marry,” a young woman dressed in a white Islamic bridal gown, who asked not to be named, is seen saying in footage published by the Mehr news agency.

A man in a dark suit next to his bride said, “They are happy to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Imam Ali, a Shiite Muslim saint.”