ABSTRACT
The Iran-Iraq War enabled Trench Builders Association (TBA) members and other veterans to gain public support and benefits because it was a total war that triggered mass mobilization and soldiering. In 2004, the Iranian Association of TBA – hereafter the TBA –was established in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The IRI emphasized the volunteerism of TBA members and other veterans of revolutionary organizations to glorify and justify the war, bolster state legitimacy and raise youth interest in the military. The TBA's antecedents date back to the revolution and the war with the inception of the IRI's rural development organization, the Construction Jihad (CJ). The TBA attempted to mobilize and socialize youth through its provincial and township branches around the country. The TBA pressured the conservatives and hardliners in the Ahmadinejad government into awarding these veterans greater compensation. The CJ leveraged its skills to provide logistical support to Iranian troops on the front.
