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Iran has launched a mass recruitment campaign called "Janfada," meaning "Sacrificing Life", to sign up volunteers to defend the country as the regime seeks to mobilize supporters and project strength in preparation for a possible U.S. ground invasion.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is separately inviting volunteers as young as 12 to serve at checkpoints and military facilities.
Mass text messages sent to mobile subscribers across Iran invited citizens to join the national campaign to confront "the American-Zionist enemy's threats against Iran's shores, islands and borders," without providing specifics.
The campaign was also promoted on state television.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a prime target of U.S. and Israeli strikes as it spearheads Iran's military response, announced a separate drive to recruit individuals for a range of services, including military roles.
The guards invited volunteers as young as 12 to serve in patrols, security checkpoints, tend to the wounded, cook, or contribute financial support.
A recruitment poster titled "Combatant Defenders of the Homeland for Iran" featured a man in a Basij uniform, a woman in a black chador, and two children, a boy and a girl.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on Tuesday that "children at military facilities would be at serious risk of death and injury" and called on Iranian officials to "revoke the campaign and prohibit all military and paramilitary forces in Iran from enlisting children under 18."
"There is no excuse for a military recruitment drive that targets children to sign up, much less 12-year-olds," HRW said.
"What this boils down to is that Iranian authorities are apparently willing to risk children's lives for some extra manpower," HRW noted.
HRW added that "Iran is bound by customary international law, which provides that recruitment of children under age 15 is a war crime."
It was unclear how many volunteers were signing up. The online portal for the campaign claimed to have registered more than 5 million people, though applicants were only required to provide a name, phone number and province.
Iran's news agency Tasnim cited a senior military figure saying Tehran had mobilized a 1-million-strong combat force, adding that the Revolutionary Guards, Basij and army were flooded with enlistment requests. The claims could not be independently verified.
Iranians interviewed for the Financial Times (FT) gave sharply divided responses.
"If a ground war happens, I'll go fight," said Hossein, a mechanic in western Tehran, as fighter jets roared overhead and explosions echoed in the distance.
"I prefer to die defending my homeland than die in bed," Hossein said.
Kamran, a 35-year-old businessman, said he would defend Tehran in a ground war but would not volunteer for the regime under the current air campaign. "I will never forget January 8 and 9, and how brutally they treated their own people," he said, referring to a violent crackdown on anti-regime protesters earlier this year that killed thousands.
Farshid, a 38-year-old architect, refused outright. "I don't want to be used like a chess piece," he said, adding that, "It's clear that these three powers will eventually come to an agreement, and then I'll feel like a fool for having been exploited."
All names were pseudonyms provided by the Financial Times.
Balaclava-clad security forces had also set up checkpoints in Isfahan and nearby towns, a resident reported.
The U.S. and Israel have targeted facilities run by the Revolutionary Guards, Basij units, the army and police throughout the conflict.
Security checkpoints in Tehran, many run by regime supporters, have also been attacked.
The U.S. is deploying thousands of additional troops, including marines and paratroopers, to the region as U.S. President Trump weighs a potential ground operation.
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