Alireza Jafari (child soldier)

International law and child soldiers In 2000 the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) was ratified. According to it, the states that have ratified it and committed to its contents should "take all feasible measures" to ensure that no child takes a direct part in hostilities and to cease recruitment below the age of 16, even if the Straight-18 standard has become increasingly the norm in multiple nations around the world. Iran has signed OPAC, however, they had yet to ratify it as of 2026. In 2022 the United Nations (UN) verified that nine state armed forces were using children in hostilities, however, Iran was not one of them. Usage of child soldiers in the 2026 Iran War Officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), notably including Rahim Nadali, a cultural official with the Guards in Tehran, stated that the minimum age for participation in war‑related support activities, such as staffing checkpoints and participating in patrols, has been lowered to 12 years old, and registration booths were set up in mosques and public squares in Tehran to encourage volunteers, including adolescents, to assist logistical and security operations. The initiative had been called called "For Iran". These developments have drawn criticism from human rights advocates and raised concerns about violations of international norms on the protection of children in armed conflict. Despite the required age being lowered to 12, Alireza was actually 11 at the time of his service and death. Residents in Tehran spotting "several private cars with teenagers holding Uzis" and "Untrained teenagers with Kalashnikovs shout orders at people". == Death ==

, the location where the checkpoint was, in which the boy was stationed before his death. Alireza Jafari was a 11 year old boy at the time of the war, and had the war not started he would have been in the fifth grade at school (Year 6). His mother, Sadat Monfared, stated in an interview that, due to a Basij personnel shortage, the boy was enlisted by his father alongside one of his brothers, which Israeli forces did not deny or confirm, but told the BBC they'd need the coordinates of the site to be sure. His father died alongside him, however his other brother was not reported as a casualty by Mehr News Agency. == Aftermath ==

Reportage The child's death was confirmed by the Basij Teachers Organisation, which officially stated that the boy was "performing his duties" at the time of death. The child's death was directly mentioned by Amnesty International which cited the incident when denouncing the enlistment of child soldiers in Basij as a war crime. == References ==