Alireza Jafari, an 11-year-old boy, has been identified as a child soldier killed while serving at an IRGC checkpoint in Tehran.

According to Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization, he is the first reported Iranian child soldier to be killed since the escalation of the war in the Middle East.

He was initially reported as a civilian casualty, but the “Teachers’ Basij” organization later confirmed that he died “while on duty.” According to his mother, he was at the checkpoint with his father due to a shortage of personnel.

Earlier, Al Arabiya reported that the Islamic regime in Iran had lowered the conscription age and resumed recruiting minors into the armed forces. Teenagers have reportedly been assigned to checkpoints and patrol duties in Tehran.

The use of child soldiers is not new for the Islamic regime.

Similar practices were used during the Iran-Iraq War, when children aged 9–12 were sent en masse to clear minefields, with the full approval of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Schools were heavily used for propaganda, where dying for the Islamic revolution was glorified. Many children went to the front voluntarily under its influence.

Children were given so-called “golden keys” to wear around their necks. Propaganda claimed these keys would open the gates of heaven if they died as martyrs.

They were sent ahead, detonating mines to clear the way for trained units. Some were even tied together with ropes to prevent them from fleeing.

Estimates suggest that around 95,000–100,000 Iranian child soldiers were killed during the Iran-Iraq War.