Iran 'recruiting children as young as 12' to fight against US and Israel
The Islamic Republic is hoping to attract military volunteers as young as 12 to become "homeland defending combatants"
The Iranian regime has been accused of using children as cannon fodder in the Middle East in an astonishing violation of children’s rights.
Listen to this article
The Islamic Republic is reportedly running a recruitment drive to attract military volunteers as young as 12 to become “homeland defending combatants”.
The death of an 11-year-old Iranian boy allegedly killed in an air strike on March 11 while manning a security checkpoint alongside his father in Tehran has thrust the new initiative into the spotlight.
Alireza Jafari's mother Sadaf Monfared told Hamshahri, a municipality-run newspaper, that the father and son were assisting the Basij volunteer militia patrols and checkpoints to "maintain the security of Tehran and its people".
Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group, said Alireza's mother had been told by the father that there was a lack of servicemen at the checkpoint, so he brought the child with him as he needed to be "ready for the days ahead".
"Mum, either we win this war, or we become martyrs. God willing, we will win, but I would like to become a martyr," she reportedly quoted her son as saying.
Read more: Moment 2000lb bunker buster bombs rip through Iranian ammunition depot
Eyewitnesses on the ground in Iran have reported seeing children in security roles amid the deadly war waged by the US and Israel.
Golnaz, a witness in her 20s from east Tehran, said she saw teenagers volunteering for Basiji forces when she left her home following an air strike on 9 March.
Sara, also in her 20s from west Tehran, told the publication she saw a teenager at a checkpoint on March 25.
According to Human Rights Watch, an advertising poster for the recruitment drive features two children, a boy and a girl, alongside two adults, including a man in a military uniform.
The Basij is a volunteer militia with an estimated one million members controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Rahim Nadali, an IRGC official, said in an interview with Iran’s Defa Press News Agency that they are recruiting civilians to provide a range of services, including security activities such as staffing checkpoints, operational and intelligence patrols and vehicle convoys.
He said: “[In relation to] intelligence and operational patrols, teenagers and the youth repeatedly have come and said that they want to take part in them.
“For the Basij checkpoints that you see across cities now, we have had many young people and teenagers demanding to be present in them. Given the ages that were making demands, we have set the [minimum] age at 12. Meaning now there are kids of 12 and 13 who want to be present in this space.”
The military recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 in conflict is a war crime.
Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, said: “There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds.
“What this boils down to is that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children’s lives for some extra manpower.”
The death toll for children has been rising since the start of the conflict, following the killing of 165 schoolgirls and staff after US-Israeli missiles destroyed a girls' school.
The attack came as the US and Israel launched joint military action against Iran on February 28.
The Islamic Republic described this attack as an example of what it called US and Israeli atrocities, with the foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, calling it a “war crime”.
Strikes are still raining down on Iran amid the ongoing war, with US President Donald Trump recently sharing footage of an explosion in Iran following an apparent US airstrike on a large ammunition depot in Isfahan.
It comes as the UK deployed more troops and “Sky Sabre” weapons systems to the Middle East to assist allies in the region, Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed on Tuesday.
During his trip to the Gulf, he confirmed the extra air defence teams and systems would be deployed to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.
He also confirmed an extension to the deployment of Typhoon jets in Qatar, with Mr Healey insisting the UK "will stand by our long-term partners in the Middle East" and continue to "push for a swift resolution to this conflict."