Iran Recruiting Its Own Youth to Fill Hezbollah's Ranks

Iran has begun openly recruiting local young men to make up for Hezbollah’s shrinking manpower, with job notices appearing in Tehran offering a monthly salary of $1,000. The campaign underscores both the heavy strain Hezbollah has suffered in the war with the Israel Defense Forces and Tehran’s determination not to let what it sees as a strategic asset weaken.

According to the report, the ads are aimed mainly at Basij members, ideological volunteers, and young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Applicants must show physical fitness, strong religious commitment, courage, discipline, and the ability to work in a team and command others. The offered pay is far above Iran’s minimum wage, which is about $140 a month.

Those recruited are expected to undergo initial training at Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Force facilities in Iran, then continue training in Syria and Lebanon before joining Hezbollah’s fighting units, including elite formations such as Radwan Force. Israeli assessments say the first Iranian fighters could be folded into Hezbollah within months.

An intelligence source said the recruitment drive reflects how severe Hezbollah’s losses have been. “When recruitment ads are posted in the streets of Tehran to fill the ranks in Lebanon, it shows how deep Hezbollah’s manpower crisis is,” the source said. “Iran is determined not to let its strategic asset weaken.” The source added that Tehran is sending young people from the capital, some motivated more by salary than by ideology, into a path that could eventually place them on the front line for Iran’s interests.