From Solidarity to a Militarized Health Defense: The Evolution of Calls for National Unity amidst the Coronavirus Crisis in Iran

After initially mismanaging its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Iranian government soon after mobilized different sectors of society and instituted various policies in an effort to neutralize the threat. Accompanying the implementation of actions, like social-distancing and mosque closures, are governmental efforts to shape perceptions about the nature of the crisis facing the nation and the degree to which society must respond. Two important trends in this respect can be identified: a soft propaganda approach underlining the need for solidarity and common care in support of the health care system in times of crisis, and a hard propaganda approach communicating the need for national unity across the whole of Iranian society to confront a common external enemy - the virus. Accordingly, a messaging campaign emerged that seeks to relate the current coronavirus crisis to the time of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), arguably the most tragic and traumatic period in the history of Islamic Republic and one that required massive mobilization efforts and sacrifice across society. This paper explores the nature in which the Islamic Republic government, as well as others, have militarized the rhetoric around confronting the coronavirus by drawing parallels with the sacrifice, mobilization, perseverance, and survival that occurred during the eight-year war with Iraq. In exploring slogans, images, music, and other media our research highlights the multiple linkages that connect the two national crises. In drawing attention to this ongoing phenomenon, the paper will also show how the government dynamically uses “soft” and “hard” propaganda techniques in its messaging campaigns as well as how visual iconography of the coronavirus/Iran-Iraq War often comes to circulate across pro-regime and social media in new and mutated forms.