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By OPEN CHRONICLE STAFF with Agencies
TEHRAN — As the war with Western-aligned forces intensifies and domestic stability wavers, the Iranian government has reportedly begun recruiting children as young as 12 to join paramilitary units patrolling the streets of major cities.
The mobilization, confirmed by human rights observers and regional intelligence reports, marks a desperate escalation by the Islamic Republic to maintain internal order and project strength as the ongoing conflict in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula increasingly stretches its conventional military forces.
The recruitment is being funneled through the Basij, a vast paramilitary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). While the Basij has historically included youth wings for ideological indoctrination, witnesses in Tehran and Isfahan report seeing children, some barely in their teens, wearing oversized tactical vests and carrying batons or communication gear at security checkpoints.
“We are seeing a systematic effort to militarize childhood,” said a spokesperson for a prominent human rights monitoring group. “These children are being deployed to neighborhood watch posts and street corners, effectively serving as the eyes and ears of a regime that is increasingly paranoid about internal dissent during wartime.”
The Iranian Ministry of Education has recently integrated “defense readiness” programs into middle school curricula, emphasizing martyrdom and national sacrifice. State media have lauded these young recruits as the “Lion Cubs of the Revolution,” portraying their involvement as a voluntary surge of patriotic fervor in response to the “Zionist-American aggression” that saw missile strikes hit Iranian soil in late February.
However, analysts suggest the move is born of necessity. With a significant portion of the IRGC’s elite units focused on the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and defending against potential U.S. airstrikes, the regime is using these youth cadres to fill the vacuum in domestic policing.
The deployment of minors in paramilitary roles has drawn sharp condemnation from the international community. United Nations officials have warned that using children in any security or combat-support capacity violates international conventions on the rights of the child.
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the reports during a briefing on the Middle East conflict, characterizing the recruitment as a sign of the regime’s “moral and structural decay.” Rubio noted that “a government that hides behind 12-year-olds to police its own people is a government that knows its time is running out.”
The sight of armed or uniformed children has also sparked friction within Iranian society. Videos smuggled out of the country show heated exchanges between parents and Basij officers at recruitment centers. Many families fear that their children are being used as “human shields” or will be the first casualties if civil unrest breaks out in response to the skyrocketing inflation and energy shortages currently gripping the nation.
As the “Leo Era” of global tension reaches a fever pitch, the images of children patrolling the streets of Tehran serve as a grim reminder of the human cost of a conflict that shows no signs of a peaceful resolution.