Iran launches recruitment drive, mobilizes soldiers

TEHRAN

Policemen stand guard next to the banners showing portraits of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in downtown Tehran, Iran, on March 14, 2026. (AP)

Iranian authorities have launched a recruitment drive dubbed "For Iran" in Tehran to register people to join the security forces, lowering the minimum age of recruits to 12.

Local media on March 26 said that Iran has mobilized over 1 million troops and fighters to prepare for a potential U.S. ground invasion, saying that large numbers of citizens have volunteered to help defend the country.

According to Iranian authorities, the threat of a U.S. offensive has sparked “a wave of enthusiasm” among the population to create what they call a “historic nightmare for American forces.”

A report by the Tasnim news agency cited a “well-informed military source” saying that more than 1 million people are now organized to fight, along with a recent surge of young Iranians applying to join the Revolutionary Guards.

Checkpoints have sprung up all around Tehran since the start of the war, with residents reporting teenagers in plainclothes manning some of them with machine guns.

Rahim Nadali, an official with the Guards in Tehran, told state television that people as young as 12 could register to help the Guards and the Basij youth volunteer militia stand "against the global bully,” a term used for the United States.

The tasks include "collecting security data and operational patrols" as well as organizing caravans of cars at night in the city, he said.

"At the Basij checkpoints and patrols that you see across the cities, we had a very high number of volunteers among young people and teenagers who wanted to participate," he said.

"Considering the ages of those requesting to join, we have now lowered the minimum age to 12 years old, because children aged 12-13 want to be involved."

"Military pickup trucks with heavy weapons mounted on them block the roads and search cars. You pass them, and just 100 meters ahead, there are several private cars with teenagers holding Uzis [sub-machine guns], again stopping vehicles," said resident Kaveh.

"When a missile hits somewhere, the area is immediately sealed off. Untrained teenagers with Kalashnikovs shout orders at people, ‘stand here, stand there'" and regularly fire warning shots into the air, he said.