Iran’s paramilitary apparatus is openly recruiting children as young as 12 for roles tied to homeland defense, according to a senior official.

Rahim Nadali, a deputy within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in remarks to Iran’s state-affiliated Defa Press Agency that the force has launched a new initiative, dubbed “For Iran,” aimed at expanding civilian participation in defense activities. The program, he said, sets the minimum age for volunteers at 12.

“We set the minimum age at 12 years and above,” Nadali said, describing the effort as a response to growing demand among teenagers seeking to participate in security-related roles.

The initiative appears to formalize and expand the involvement of minors in the regime’s auxiliary network, particularly through the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary force that operates under IRGC oversight. According to Nadali, recruits could be tasked with a wide range of responsibilities, from logistical support such as cooking and distributing supplies to more sensitive duties including staffing checkpoints, conducting patrols and participating in intelligence-related activities.

The announcement triggered immediate backlash from international rights groups, which argue that recruiting children for military roles violates international law. Bill Van Esveld of Human Rights Watch said the policy could amount to a war crime if minors under 15 are engaged in hostilities.

“There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds,” Van Esveld said, warning that Iranian authorities are exposing minors to “serious and irreversible harm.”

In at least one case, an 11-year-old boy identified as Alireza Jafari was killed while stationed at a checkpoint. Iranian state media and the Basij Teachers Organization confirmed the child died “on duty,” underscoring what critics say are the real-world consequences of integrating minors into security operations.

According to local reporting, the boy’s mother said a shortage of personnel led his father to bring him to work at the checkpoint, a claim that reinforces allegations of systemic gaps the regime is attempting to fill with underage recruits.

The use of children in military roles is not new in Iran. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the government mobilized thousands of minors, some reportedly as young as nine, for high-risk operations including clearing minefields.

Afshin Javid, a former Basij recruit who says he was enlisted at age 12, described a system in which ideological indoctrination, education and family structures converge to normalize the concept of martyrdom from an early age. He said children are taught to view participation in conflict as both a religious duty and a path to spiritual reward, limiting their ability to envision civilian futures.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)