'Shameless' Iran recruits children 'as young as 12' to fight Trump's troops

'Shameless' Iran recruits children 'as young as 12' to fight Trump's troopsHuman rights groups have warned against disturbing images appearing to show Iranian children holding weapons such as AK-pattern assault rifles and standing alongside IRGC forcesCommentsNewsZahra Khaliq News Reporter08:00, 04 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesA child holds a poster of Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and his assassinated father(Image: Idrees Abbas/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)The Iranian regime has released a new campaign "shamelessly" encouraging children as young as 12 to join the war effort against US forces, human rights groups have warned.‌The move comes as Iran remains under sustained attack from the US and Israel, who have been striking the country since an initial joint attack on February 28 killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.‌The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has since released disturbing promotional material as part of a campaign titled "Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran", according to Human Rights Watch. A poster circulated by Iran's Defa Press News Agency shows two young children - a boy and a girl - smiling in front of a uniformed figure.‌Amnesty International said it also had verified images appearing to show children holding weapons such as AK-pattern assault rifles and standing alongside IRGC forces at checkpoints and on patrol. The organisation said the recruitment of child soldiers is a serious breach of international law.View 3 ImagesA poster for the 'Homeland Defending Combatants for Iran' campaign(Image: IRGC)"The Iranian authorities are shamelessly encouraging children as young as 12 to join an IRC-run military campaign, putting them in grave danger and violating international law, which prohibits the recruitment and use of children in the military," Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty Internati...