Images published by Iranian state news outlets on Saturday showed children receiving firearms training at a nighttime gathering at Tehran’s Azadi Square. This comes amid reports that the Islamic Republic is recruiting minors as young as 12 to man checkpoints and perform security duties during the war.The images come months after an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official announced that the minimum age for participation in war-support activities had been lowered to 12, allowing children aged 12 and 13 to take part in patrols, checkpoints and logistics if they volunteered.The recruitment drive, dubbed “For Iran,” has been launched in Tehran to register people to join the security forces. Rahim Nadali, an IRGC official in Tehran, told state television that people as young as 12 could register to help the Guards and the Basij youth volunteer militia stand “against the global bully,” a term used for the United States.
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Residents have reported seeing armed, untrained youths at ad hoc checkpoints across Tehran since the war broke out on February 28 with the United States and Israel.“Military pickup trucks with heavy weapons mounted on them block the roads and search cars. You pass them, and just 100 meters ahead, there are several private cars with teenagers holding Uzis, again stopping vehicles,” one Tehran resident told AFP.Another resident said that when a missile hits somewhere, “the area is immediately sealed off. Untrained teenagers with Kalashnikovs shout orders at people — ‘stand here, stand there’ — and regularly fire warning shots into the air.”According to Nadali, tasks for the young recruits include “collecting security data and operational patrols” as well as organizing caravans of cars at night in the city.“Considering the ages of those requesting to join, we have now lowered the minimum age to 12 years old, because children aged 12–13 want to be involved.”Rights groups have previously expressed concern over the involvement of minors in security-related activities in Iran, including reports during past anti-government protests of children appearing in military-style uniforms or being used in support roles.
