It has been reported that children as young as fifteen are being recruited by the Iranian regime to participate in armed conflicts. This is a blatant disregard of international law and the UN Security Council has reminded Iran that the UN Charter on children’s rights is applicable.

The International Criminal Court sees the recruitment of anyone under eighteen years old for any activities related to armed combat as a war crime.

It is scandalous that this is happening with such frequency in Iran, yet it is facing no obstacles.

Children have not developed fully enough to participate in war and these children being recruited by the Iranian regime are at extreme risk for major physical and psychological consequences. It takes an extreme toll on the child, the family and society as a whole.

International laws are in place to protect children, but they can only be protected if they are enforced. It is major negligence that the international laws are failing to protect these minors.

Many of the children being recruited in Iran are from refugee families. They are sent to conflict zones, in particular Syria, where they will fight alongside Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad’s forces and allies.

The shocking reason behind such a high number of child recruits is that the Syrian and Iranian regimes are trying to lower the number of reported government casualties and deaths to minimise the loss of morale within the troops. The lives of the children are not valued and the Iranian regime treats them as expendable.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is instrumental in recruiting minors. The IRGC plays a big role in many of the regime’s crimes and this is just another reason backing the drive by some to take international action to curb its influence.

In order to be able to get so many recruits, the authorities promise them legal residency status in Iran. They also promise financial benefits and prey on the people that are living in extreme poverty in certain parts of society in the country.

Human Rights Watch has spoken about this alarming practice and its Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, called on Iran to immediately put an end to it. She also called on Iranian authorities to ensure that any refugee children that have been sent away to fight are withdrawn immediately. She said that it is Iran’s responsibility to protect children, not to prey on the vulnerable ones.

It is imperative that those responsible are held to account for their crimes. The Iranian authorities have been boasting on television about how they are proud to send child recruits to Syria. Reports are conflicting with some saying that there are children as young as 14 being recruited, but in one television interview a young boy claiming to be only 13 spoke about his experience.
Whatever the age, it is very clear that the situation is a war crime and that the young children should be experiencing life at school, not a war abroad.

Source » ncr-iran