The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran is reportedly running a campaign to recruit children as young as 12 to volunteer as “homeland defense fighters,” according to Human Rights Watch, the global human rights monitoring organization. HRW stated that the recruitment and military use of children constitutes a serious violation of children’s rights and qualifies as a war crime when those involved are under 15 years old.
On March 26, 2026, an official from the IRGC’s 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division in Tehran announced that a recruitment campaign called “Fighters Protecting the Homeland for Iran” had set the minimum age at 12.
Human Rights Watch called on Iranian authorities to revoke the campaign and halt all military and paramilitary forces in Iran from recruiting anyone under 18.
“There is no justification for a military recruitment campaign targeting children, let alone 12-year-olds. This implies that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children’s lives for a small additional labor force,” said Bill Van Esveld, Associate Director for Children’s Rights at Human Rights Watch.
The campaign aims to attract civilians for activities such as cooking and medical support, distributing supplies, assisting with damaged homes, as well as security duties including personnel checkpoints, operational patrols, intelligence patrols, and vehicle convoys, Rahim Nadali, an IRGC official, told Iran’s Defa Press news agency.
Recruitment posters, published by the agency, display these activities and feature two children, a boy and a girl, alongside two adults, including a man in military uniform.
Applicants can register at Tehran mosques hosting Basij bases, according to Nadali and the recruitment posters. The Basij force operates under the command of the IRGC.
