Iran has launched a recruitment plan for security work that allows children as young as 12 to participate in the war, which is now in its 28th day. No, it is not a hoax from his adversaries in the middle of a propaganda and misinformation contest. It is an official announcement of the ayatollah regime that now commands, supposedly, .
“We have had a large number of adolescents and young people who want to participate in these activities and, given the ages of those who requested to join, we have set the minimum age at 12 years,” said this Friday Rahim Nadali, deputy commander of the Mohamad Rasoulolá Corps, a strategic military unit of the one focused on the security of Tehran.
In an interview with state television cited by Agencia EFE (present on the ground), Nadali said that the functions of these recruits will focus on patrols in the capital and intelligence work.
Since the beginning of the conflict, on February 28, Iran has established checkpoints in various parts of Tehran and other cities in the country to maintain security, and has also launched various operations in which it has detained thousands of people, whom it accuses of supporting opposition groups in exile or of collaborating with Israel and the United States.
Just yesterday, the capture of 14 individuals accused of allegedly planning attacks and spying on state facilities was reported. Opposition groups in exile maintain that, in the process, they take advantage of them, some of which encouraged the protests over the economic crisis that began in December and which have been abruptly canceled by Western bombings.
Illegal… and useful
According to reports, there are more than 300,000 boys and girls who are recruited to participate in war conflicts around the planet. A child soldier is considered any minor under 18 years of age who is or has been recruited, forcibly or voluntarily, by an armed group or force. They are used as fighters, porters, cooks, spies or messengers. Girls are also exposed to being used for sexual purposes, it abounds. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child makes it clear that this use in armed conflict is illegal.
Over the last three decades, the number of minors who are at risk of being recruited or used as soldiers has tripled because, unlike an adult, “boys and girls are easier to manipulate due to their docility and obedience, since they do not question orders as much and they also lack the necessary resources to get out of that situation,” maintains the human rights defense organization.
The age at which they are usually recruited – especially boys – is from the age of eight. They are taken to camps where they undergo harsh military training and are evaluated to decide in which activity they can be most useful for the armed group. “It is very difficult for them to see their families again, in fact, the most normal thing is that they are forced to kill a member of their family or friend so that they break all emotional ties,” they maintain, when the environment is not urban, like the one that has now been announced.
