Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is conducting a campaign to recruit children as young as 12 to volunteer to become 'homeland defending combatants'. The campaign, called 'Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran', has set the minimum age at 12. The campaign aims to attract civilians for cooking, medical care, distribution, security checkpoints, patrols, and convoys.
Twelve-year-olds with automatic weapons are patrolling Tehran's streets to suppress protests and enforce internet restrictions, according to multiple reports. Iranian authorities confirm that children aged 12 are recruited into the paramilitary Basij force to monitor the population and man roadblocks. Basij supporters patrol at night to suppress any attempts at rebellion, sources said.
Recruiting children under 15 for military purposes is a war crime, according to Human Rights Watch. The Iranian regime is encouraging children as young as 12 to join war efforts against US and Israeli forces, according to Human Rights Watch.
The IRGC's function involves mass torture, execution, and repression of those who question the regime, according to rights groups.
Iran's population has been disconnected from the global internet for over a month, with only a state-controlled network available, according to multiple reports. Many who connected via VPN or satellite have been arrested by Iranian authorities, sources said.
Applicants can register at Tehran mosques that house Basij bases, according to a named source.
Children at military facilities are at serious risk of death and injury due to airstrikes targeting Iran. Over the past month, the United States and Israel have reportedly carried out tens of thousands of airstrikes against numerous Basij and IRGC facilities and multiple Basij checkpoints in Tehran, killing and wounding personnel, according to research.
Children in Iran have already been subject to unlawful attacks, including an attack on a primary school in Minab, Iran on February 28 that killed dozens of schoolchildren and other civilians, which should be investigated as a war crime, according to Human Rights Watch. According to a preliminary US military report, the United States was responsible for the attack on the primary school in Minab, research indicates.
The scale of recruitment into the IRGC or Basij forces as part of this campaign remains unclear, as does the effectiveness of child patrols in suppressing protests and enforcing internet restrictions. Specific training or indoctrination methods used on the recruited children have not been detailed publicly, and it is unknown whether any children have been killed or injured while participating in IRGC or Basij activities. The official Iranian government response to the allegations of child recruitment as a war crime has not been formally addressed.