International human rights organizations have blew the whistle following reports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is actively recruiting children as young as 12 for military. The campaign, titled “Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran,” was formally initiated on March 26th, 2026, by Tehran officials. Sharp condemnations have been drawn from organizations like Human Rights Watch, which classified the recruitment of children under 15 as a war crime under established international statutes.
While IRGC officials like Rahim Nadali claim the program targets volunteers for logistical tasks—such as medical care, cooking, and damage control—the recruitment also includes security works with high risks. These tasks, being reported, involve managing security outposts and participating in intelligence and operational patrols. Official campaign advertisements depict minors and uniformed adults together in a manner tht deliberately compare children with military personnel. Officials have admitted that the minimum age was lowered to 12 specifically to accommodate the "demands" of younger teenagers. This admission highlights a systemic failure and a humanity crisis in protecting the minors, the future generation, as the state actively encourages youth to put themselves in the environment of violence and strict hierarchy.
The recruitment comes at a period of extreme danger within Iran. Over the past month, the United States and Israel have reportedly conducted tens of thousands of airstrikes targeting IRGC and Basij facilities—the very locations where these child volunteers are being stationed. Human Rights Watch indicates a February 28 attack on a primary school in Minab, which killed dozens of children, as a stark reminder of the risks currently facing Iranian youth.
Legal experts and human right advocaters, including Bill Van Esveld of Human Rights Watch, have accused Iranian authorities of using children as "extra pawns" regardless of loss of life. This disregard for juvenile safety reflects a utilitarian view of the populace where even the most vulnerable are seen as expendable assets for national preservation. Critics highlight that this is part of a long-standing pattern; the IRGC previously utilized child soldiers during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and more recently deployed Afghan immigrant children to fight in the Syrian civil war.
Under international law, the recruitment of anyone under the age of 15 is strictly prohibited and considered a serious violation of human rights. Although Iran has signed but not yet ratified the Optional Protocol setting the minimum age for hostilities at 18, it remains bound by customary international law regarding war crimes. Customary law dictates that states have a positive obligation to shield children from the machinery of war, an obligation that Tehran is currently flouting in favor of ideological mobilization. Rights groups are now calling on Iranian leadership to immediately revoke the campaign and prohibit the recruiting of any minor under the age of 18 to prevent further irreversible harm and to ensure that the next generation of Iranians is not sacrificed to the geopolitical tensions of the present.
Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/30/iran-military-stepping-up-child-recruitment