Iran has announced that children, starting at the age of 12, can join the new program "for fighters defending the homeland."
The recruitment scheme has been reported by several Iranian media outlets and was presented by an official of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was designated a terrorist group by the United States on March 26.
Rahim Nadali, the Guard's deputy director for the Cultural Sector in Tehran, said in a television announcement that the program is a response to the public's overwhelming demand to help soldiers facing "global aggression," referring to US and Israeli airstrikes.
This claim has not been independently verified by Radio Free Europe, which is not permitted to operate in Iran.
"We have launched a plan we call For Iran, and it is a plan for the fighters who defend our homeland," Nadal said. "We have set the minimum age at 12 and above."
Iranian media have reported that duties for recruits will include patrols and "checkpoint tours."
Something like this could endanger children. The United States and Israel have attacked checkpoints belonging to the Basij militia, a branch of the Revolutionary Guard, engaged in brutal repression of dissent in Iran.
A Basij recruitment call, published in Iranian media for the For Iran program, showed children who appear to be in the project's target age group standing among Iranian flags as burning missiles fell from the sky. /REL/
