According to Shahin Gobadi, an official with the NCRI, “Tehran’s recruitment of Iranian children in the Syrian conflict is reflective of the failure of the Revolutionary Guards, the conventional army, the Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies to prop up the criminal Assas regime.”
The video clip, linked below, was allegedly produced by the Bassij Music House, which is the propaganda arm of the Bassij, a paramilitary group consisting primarily of civilians, but under the direct control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The Revolutionary Guard, in turn, answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
In the video, which was translated by the NCRI, the children state that they are ready to give their life for Supreme Leader Khamenei. Further, the children sing that they want to not only free Iraq and Syria, but also to reach Jerusalem. The NCRI alleges that Iran is recruiting children to join in the war efforts in Syria.
Investigative reporters in Syria have already confirmed that Revolutionary Guard soldiers, the elite of Iran’s army, and the most loyal to the regime, are fighting on the front lines in order to prop up the Assad regime. Initially, Iran claimed that its soldiers were acting merely as advisors, but as the war has dragged on, they have taken a more direct role.
Besides Syria, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya station has aired footage purportedly showing teenagers being trained at military camps being run by the Shia Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units. Other videos aired on the station also showed children being trained to fire assault rifles, and children being subject to “ideological training” by Shia clerics. Iran supports and trains many of the Shia militias and wields a large amount of influence over the Shia government of Iraq.
UNICEF has already noted that children were used to the Iraq-Iran war, primarily as mine sweepers sent out ahead of regular troops. It has been alleged by the NCRI and other international groups that tens of thousands of children were used as minesweepers and in other dangerous roles. Children, in this case, were seen as more expendable than regular troops, and thus more fit for mine sweeping duties. U.S. News reports that during the Iran-Iraq war, high numbers of front-line casualties were children under the age of 15, showing the willingness of Iranian commanders to send children to the front lines.
