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

The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media.

They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on February 28.

Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the “self-sacrifice” scheme (janfada in Persian) where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations.

Iranian authorities say millions of people, including top figures such as speaker of parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian, have put their names forward.

Couples arrived at the Imam Hossein square in military jeeps with mounted machine guns and were married on a stage in a ceremony presided over by a cleric, AFP images showed.

The stage was festooned with balloons and with a giant image of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

“Certainly, the country is at war, but young people also have the right to marry,” one young woman in a white Islamic bridal dress, who was not named, said beside her groom in footage published by the Mehr news agency.

A man in a dark suit, beside his bride-to-be, said they were happy the occasion marked the anniversary of the marriage of Hazrat Ali (RA) to Hazrat Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“We received their blessings. Furthermore, we came to offer our best wishes to the people in the streets,” he said.

Mehr said 110 couples had taken part in the Imam Hossein square ceremony alone. The AFP images showed crowds of well-wishers clasping roses and watching on.

• Two-decade worship arrangement ended.
• Muslim side plans Supreme Court challenge.
• Critics warn of a grave threat.

Muslims will no longer be able to offer Friday prayer at a disputed mosque-temple complex in India’s Madhya Pradesh after a court declared the site a Hindu temple and authorities allowed daily Hindu worship there.

An Indian court ruling has ended a two-decade worship arrangement at the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex, with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) allowing daily Hindu prayers after the site was declared a temple.

The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that the complex in Dhar district was a temple dedicated to goddess Vagdevi, also known as Saraswati, Indian media reported.

Following the ruling, the ASI issued a May 16 order allowing Hindu devotees unrestricted daily worship rights at the site. The order superseded previous directives, including a 2003 arrangement under which Hindus were allowed to worship on Tuesdays and Muslims were allowed to offer Friday prayer.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the Hindu petitioners, said Hindus could now visit and worship at the complex “without any restriction”.

The ASI said the site would remain a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, while worship timings would be determined by the superintending archaeologist in consultation with the district administration.

The court relied on a 2024 ASI report which said the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex was constructed using remnants of earlier temples, with the mosque built centuries later, according to Indian media.

The court also said the Muslim side could approach the state government for land at an alternative site in Dhar district to build a mosque. Dhar city Qazi Waqar Sadiq indicated that the Muslim petitioners would approach the Supreme Court, adding that the Muslim community had no intention of accepting alternative land.

The protected monument has long been contested, with Hindu groups claiming it is a temple dedicated to Saraswati and Muslims maintaining that it is the Kamal Maula mosque.

According to Al Jazeera, the ruling has placed the mosque out of bounds for Muslims in Dhar, where it had been used for prayer for decades.

The decision has drawn criticism from Muslim-side lawyers, historians and politicians, who argue that it threatens protections for Muslim places of worship in India. Lawyer Ashhar Warsi, who argued from the Muslim side, called the verdict “an erroneous judgement” and “a clear violation of the established rule of law”.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a five-time member of parliament, told Al Jazeera that the ruling sent a message of “grave threat” to Muslim places of worship in India. He also said the Babri judgement had “opened the floodgates” for similar claims.

Al Jazeera also quoted historian Audrey Truschke as saying the current trend of targeting mosques in India was part of the “entrenched Islamophobia of Hindu nationalism”.

The dispute comes amid a wider Hindutva push targeting medieval mosques and Islamic-era monuments in India, with campaigners claiming that they were built over Hindu temples. Such claims have gained momentum since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.

• US shows some flexibility on frozen funds, nuclear activity: sources.
• Adds Washington denies oil sanctions waiver for Iran.
• Fragile ceasefire holds after US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
  

Tehran’s latest peace proposal to the United States involves ending hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, the exit of US forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the US-Israeli war, state media reported on Tuesday.

In Tehran’s first comments on the proposal, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen funds and an end to the US marine blockade on the country, according to IRNA news agency.

The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran’s previous offer, which US President Donald Trump rejected last week as “garbage”.

Trump said on Monday he had paused a planned resumption of attacks on Iran after Tehran sent a new peace proposal to Washington, and that there was now a “very good chance” of reaching a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear programme.

Reuters could not determine whether preparations had been made for strikes that would mark a renewal of the war Trump started in late February.

Under pressure to reach an accord that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a key supply route for global supplies of oil and other commodities — Trump has previously expressed hope that a deal was close on ending the conflict, and similarly threatened heavy strikes on Iran if Tehran did not reach a deal.

In a social media post, Trump said the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had requested that he hold off on the attack because “a Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond.”

A Pakistani source confirmed that Islamabad, which has conveyed messages between the sides since hosting the only round of peace talks last month, had shared the Iranian proposal with Washington.

Although neither side has publicly disclosed any concessions in negotiations that have been stalled for a month, a senior Iranian official suggested on Monday that Washington may be softening some of its demands.

The source said the US had agreed to release a quarter of Iran’s frozen funds — totalling tens of billions of dollars — held in foreign banks. Iran wants all the assets released.

And the source said Washington had shown more flexibility in agreeing to let Iran continue some peaceful nuclear activity under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.