Iran Lowers Wartime Recruitment Age to 12: The IRGC's 'For Iran' Program

What Was Announced

On March 26, 2026, Rahim Nadali — identified variously by reporting outlets as IRGC deputy director for culture in Tehran and as Cultural and Artistic Deputy of the Tehran-based Mohammad Rasoulollah Corps — announced on Iranian state television a recruitment program called "For Iran." The program invites civilians to register as volunteers to support the IRGC and the Basij militia during the ongoing war.

Nadali told state TV: "We launched a plan that we call For Iran, which is a registration plan for combatants defending the homeland. We set the minimum age at twelve and above," per Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).

He elaborated on the reason for the age threshold: "Given that the age of those coming forward has dropped and they are asking to take part, we lowered the minimum age to 12," per ITV News, which cited Defa Press, an Iranian state-affiliated news agency.

Separately, speaking about checkpoint volunteers, Nadali said on state television: "At the Basij checkpoints and patrols that you see across the cities, we had a very high number of volunteers among young people and teenagers who wanted to participate," per Times of Israel. "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."

Registration for the program is directed to Basij Resistance Force bases and pop-up registration booths in central squares, per ITV News.

What the Roles Actually Involve

The "For Iran" program covers several categories of roles, according to Iranian state media coverage reviewed by ITV News and RFE/RL:

Operational and security: Field patrols, intelligence patrols, and checkpoint operations. This is the category that has drawn the most international attention, as checkpoints are active security positions in a war zone.

Support and logistics: Organizing vehicle convoys across Tehran, providing vehicles and equipment.

Services and supplies: Preparing and distributing food and supplies to fighters, and helping homes damaged by missile strikes.

Healthcare: Doctors and nurses staffing clinics to treat the wounded. This category is directed at adults with professional qualifications.

Official Iranian media stated that duties include "collecting security data and operational patrols" as well as organizing vehicle caravans at night in the city, per Times of Israel. The program is not framed as armed military service — Iranian state media described it as civilian support — but checkpoints and patrols are operational positions in a live conflict.

RFE/RL noted that U.S. and Israeli air strikes have hit Basij checkpoints during the conflict.

What Tehran Residents Are Seeing

AFP journalists based outside Iran have collected accounts from Tehran residents, which were published by the Times of Israel.

A resident identified as Kaveh described the scene: "Military pickup trucks with heavy weapons mounted on them block the roads and search cars. You pass them, and just 100 meters (328 feet) ahead, there are several private cars with teenagers holding Uzis [sub-machine guns], again stopping vehicles." He also said: "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.

Another Tehran resident told AFP that at night, pro-regime supporters "take cars fitted with speakerphones and they give them flags and they march with lots of noise and shout slogans in the streets."

RFE/RL noted it is not permitted to operate in Iran and could not independently verify these accounts.

International Law: What Iran Agreed To

Iran is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Article 38 of the CRC states: "States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities," per ITV News citing the treaty text.

Iran ratified the CRC in 1994. Iran International noted that the "For Iran" program's use of 12-year-olds in checkpoint and intelligence patrol roles "comes despite Iran's commitments under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the use of children in military activities."

The Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict — which Iran has not ratified — sets the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities at 18 and for compulsory military recruitment at 18. However, even the base CRC obligation Iran accepted sets 15 as the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities, per the treaty text as cited by ITV.

The NCRI (National Council of Resistance of Iran), an opposition group, stated in a March 29 report that the age reduction "not only violates international obligations toward children's rights, but also points to a growing pattern of instrumentalizing children within structures of internal repression."

Neither the United Nations nor any Western government had issued a formal public response to the "For Iran" program as of publication of this article.

Historical Context: Iran Has Done This Before

The use of children in security and combat roles is not new in Iran's history. RFE/RL provided the most detailed historical context.

During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), Iran recruited child soldiers in large numbers. Children were used to clear minefields and in direct combat, recruited after state propaganda campaigns and influenced by religious ideology. Stories of children sacrificing their lives to destroy Iraqi tanks were taught in Iranian schools.

In 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that Iran was recruiting Afghan children as young as 14 to fight in Syria, serving in an all-Afghan unit supported by Iran alongside forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. HRW presented photos of tombstones of eight children who died on Syrian battlefields, per RFE/RL.

During Iran's mass "Women, Life, Freedom" protests in 2022 — in which hundreds of people were killed by security forces — photos shared on social media showed children in what appeared to be Basij uniforms and riot gear, per RFE/RL. An Iranian charity, the Imam Ali Society, was reported to have provided children from poor families with "a few bags of food" for their participation in suppression activities.

Hamid Farahani, a prominent Iranian children's rights campaigner based in London, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda: "The Basij has consistently recruited children and adolescents. Regarding the checkpoints currently being discussed, the topic has become more media-prominent due to an increase in numbers." He added: "Unfortunately, many parents may actually agree [with this recruitment]. If parents see their children being drawn in, they should try to dissuade them."

What the Program Signals About Iran's Position

RFE/RL noted that it was "not clear if the recruitment drive was an effort to rally support, a response to a shortage of personnel, or a combination of these and other motives."

Several interpretations are consistent with available evidence:

Propaganda and morale: Announcing the recruitment of young volunteers through state media could be intended to project popular support for the war effort domestically — demonstrating that even children want to fight for Iran. A Basij recruitment poster featured in Iranian media showed children standing amid Iranian flags while burning missiles fall from the sky.

Personnel pressures: Israel's stated military objective includes weakening Iran's domestic security forces. Israel Hayom reported that the minors being recruited are being directed to the Basij, which is the force used for internal suppression. If the regular Basij and IRGC forces are being degraded, the regime may face genuine manpower constraints for checkpoint and patrol functions.

Social control: Checkpoints function not only as security measures against external threats but as instruments of internal social control. In wartime Iran, they also limit movement, enforce blackouts, and monitor potential dissent. Deploying volunteer youth at checkpoints serves these control functions regardless of military value.

Whether the program reflects genuine popular enthusiasm among Iranian youth, institutional pressure from above, or some combination cannot be determined from available public information.