IRAN/MILITARY/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration on Tuesday [10-16-18] hit Iran with another round of sanctions, accusing the country of recruiting child soldiers as young as 12 to fight for the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria. The sanctions primarily target the Basij Resistance Force, a domestic arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps focused on recruiting young Iranians to advance the country’s aims. Basij has an expansive network of recruiting efforts in every province of the country, and has attracted young boys from Afghanistan to its cause as well, according to a Treasury Department news release. The administration’s Tuesday action specifically names a litany of Iranian banking and industrial institutions with ties to Basij, blocking their U.S. property and barring U.S. persons from engaging with them. The institutions are involved in economic activity ranging from investments to heavy industry and have networks stretching across the globe, according to senior administration officials.”
–Matthew Choi, “Trump sanctions Iran over alleged child soldier recruitment,” Politico, October 16, 2018 2:09 pm