Criticism on Social Media Following Release of Video Sending Children to Syria

The state news agency has published a video featuring a 13-year-old teenager from Mazandaran as the youngest 'Defender of the Shrine' from Iran in Syria. This video has sparked critical reactions from a group of social media activists, including some users known as 'Hezbollah.' In the video, the child, introducing himself as 'Amir Mahdi,' stands alongside a group of military men and answers questions in Persian about his reasons for being in the Syrian war. The 13-year-old states that he considers 'martyrdom' an 'honor' and conveys a message to America that 'Islam will always prevail.' The person who produced this video praises the child's presence in the Syrian war, likening him to 'Hosseini Fahmideh' and claiming Amir Mahdi is the 'smallest defender of the shrine' sent from Iran to the 'Al-Bukamal' region in Syria. 'Hosseini Fahmideh' is a symbol and victim of the eight-year Iraq-Iran war. According to Gholamreza Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC in Isfahan province, the significant presence of children in that war resulted in 36,000 'martyr' students. During those years, these children and teenagers were influenced by teachings and speeches from clerics in schools, mosques, Basij bases, and religious assemblies, leading them to war zones. After the war, Iranian officials continued the policy of recruiting children and teenagers from mosques, Basij bases, and religious assemblies, and after the onset of the Syrian war, this policy extended to Afghan and Pakistani migrants in Iran. The recruitment and dispatch of Afghan and Pakistani children to the Syrian war by Iran, which began in the early months of the conflict, led to a statement from Human Rights Watch in October 2017 criticizing this action by the Iranian government. The organization explicitly accused the IRGC of sending Afghan migrant children as soldiers to the Syrian war, sometimes when their ages did not even reach 14. The report reflected the statements of Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director of Human Rights Watch, who called on Iranian officials to end the recruitment of children and immediately return them from the front lines. This official stated that 'Instead of sacrificing defenseless refugee children, Iranian officials should support them and bring those who have employed them as soldiers to justice.' The dispatch of children to the Syrian war by the IRGC continues despite President Hassan Rouhani submitting a bill to the parliament in July 2016 for Iran's accession to the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. Iran joined this protocol in 1993, but as indicated by the Human Rights Watch statement and some reports, the dispatch of children to the Syrian war clearly shows Iran's non-compliance with this protocol. The release of a film featuring a 13-year-old child in the Syrian war by the state news agency has reignited the controversial issue of the use of children in war by the Islamic Republic within a segment of public opinion and social media. Users from 'Hezbollah' on social media have been among the critics of the release of such a film by the state news agency and, of course, the presence of children in war, which is a rare critical perspective among them. 'Soldier Rouhollah Razavi,' one of these users, wrote on his Twitter page, 'The very principle of using children in war is problematic, but it is even harder to understand the logic of those who broadcast images of a 13-year-old Iranian child on national media from the battlefield in Syria.' 'Alireza Malavandi,' who identifies himself as an 'Iranian Muslim' on Twitter, reacted to the release of this film by tweeting that 'the one who took a 13-year-old child to the war zone lacks sound judgment.' Malavandi wrote, 'The one who filmed and broadcast it on television has no understanding of logic or even basic media principles; it would be better for him to pursue other work.' 'Mostafa Votoqnia,' a cultural reporter for Fars News Agency, also tweeted that 'the officials of the central news unit should be reprimanded and dismissed for broadcasting a clip of a 13-year-old boy in Al-Bukamal, Syria.' Several Hezbollah activists, while implicitly supporting the use of children in war, have cited the words of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in an attempt to defend such an approach. 'Alamdaar Kamil,' one of these users, tweeted to Israeli officials, 'Yes... we even have some soldiers in cradles... to fight against Israel.' Another user tweeted, 'Mashallah, these children are following the path of Hosseini Fahmideh. Hopefully, these children will finish off the work against Israel.' Other Twitter users have reacted to the release of this film and the Islamic Republic's use of children in war, condemning it. 'Madiyar,' a civil activist, wrote on Twitter, 'Shameful violation of children's rights. A 13-year-old child-soldier in Syria who does not know what war is, but is there for the propaganda that the so-called reporter wants to extract from him about the darkness in the Islamic Republic that they present as white.' 'Hossein Madadi' also wrote on Twitter: 'Seeing the film of the Iranian child in Syria reminded me that for governments, there is no distinction between friend and foe; they only need a road clearer and a peshmerga.' According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 19,000 children have lost their lives in the Syrian war, which includes Iranian, Afghan, and Pakistani child-soldiers among the victims of this war.