Iranian authorities are urging young people, students, artists, athletes, and volunteer groups to form “human chains” around power plants across the country just hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for a deal expires, effectively gathering civilians at infrastructure sites the United States has explicitly threatened to strike.
The campaign, promoted through Iran’s Ministry of Sports and Youth, is set for 2 p.m. Tuesday local time — roughly 13 hours before Trump’s 8 p.m. Eastern deadline — and has been branded “Human Chain of Iran’s Youth for a Bright Future.”
Deputy Youth Affairs Minister Alireza Rahimi claimed the initiative came from the bottom up, saying “a number of university youth, young artists, and youth organisations” had proposed forming a “human ring or human chain” around the country’s power plants.
Rahimi said the campaign is intended to symbolize “the youth’s commitment to protecting the country’s infrastructure and building a bright future,” while also protesting what he called attacks on public infrastructure as a “war crime.”
But whatever label Tehran applies to it, the practical effect is the same: the regime is publicly mobilizing civilians to gather at the very infrastructure it knows has been singled out in Trump’s threats.
Trump said Monday that if Iran fails to comply with U.S. demands — including reopening the Strait of Hormuz — American forces could destroy the country’s bridges and power plants within hours.
“I mean complete demolition by 12 o’clock,” Trump said, outlining a four-hour operation that he said could leave every bridge “decimated” and every power plant destroyed.
The move has intensified scrutiny of how the Iranian regime is using young people amid the war. As Breitbart News reported last week, Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps lowered the minimum age to join its repressive forces to 12, expanding efforts to recruit boys for checkpoint patrols, internal security duties, and the collection of “security data.”
That campaign, dubbed “For Iran,” marked an escalation in Tehran’s longstanding use of minors in security and paramilitary roles. It came amid wartime repression and broader efforts to tighten control over the population.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Michael Waltz condemned the practice Tuesday on X, writing that the IRGC is “openly recruiting 12-year-olds” in plain violation of international law.
“Sending children to perform military duties with AK-47s isn’t ‘defending the homeland’ — it’s horrific, plain and simple,” Waltz wrote. “The Iranian regime has reached a new level of desperation and depravity.”
The latest “human chain” campaign fits into that broader pattern. While officials portray it as symbolic and youth-driven, it is being promoted through state channels and organized at a national level, with participants expected to gather around sensitive infrastructure just hours before Trump’s deadline.
Reports on the campaign have also indicated that the demonstrations are intended for public and international consumption, with Iranian authorities seeking to cast the mobilization as a statement of unity and resilience as tensions with Washington deepen.
At bottom, however, the regime is placing civilians — including young people — at sites it knows could become targets if diplomacy fails Tuesday night.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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