Children Used as Hijab Enforcers in Tehran Metro

Authorities in Tehran are using children to enforce mandatory headscarf rules for women in the city’s metro stations, IranWire has learned.  

The information was confirmed by Ali Shafakhah, the head of the Skoda Children's Rights Committee, who said that “the authorities have now hired children as hijab enforcers.”

Shafakhah wrote on the social media platform X that he had previously sent a letter to Tehran's mayor to raise concern about the plight of “tens of thousands” of child laborers in the capital.

The Islamic Republic has a track record of using children as security forces or soldiers, and for ideological purposes.

As many as 24 students were among dozens of people killed in a January 3 bombing attack on a memorial ceremony in Kerman for Qasem Soleimani, a top general who died in a US drone strike in Iraq four years ago.

Some of the students were said to have been brought to the ceremony, without their parents, through a camp called "Pilgrim to Paradise." 

Children in Iran have also been involved in "Hijab and Chasity" gatherings. 

During the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that erupted across Iran in 2022, images depicting children among the security forces were shared on social media.

In contravention to international standards and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a signatory, the paramilitary Basij force and other organizations continue to involve children in military training programs .