maybe unpopular piece of context, but where west treats most adults as children, in a large part of the world (middle east, asia, africa, south america) much younger people already get a lot of responsibilities and thats considered normal.
now ofc not saying anything about war, military roles and such things, but its good to consider before judging what kind of responsibilities are carried by whom, the context in which these people otherwise exist.
Even if "it's just their culture" were a compelling excuse for using children as soldiers, it's not the culture of the majority of Iranians, only a minority of religious extremists who oppress them.
you say just to belittle something as if its inferior. additionally you disregarded my additional note about militairy / politics and take it too black and white.
50 years ago, progressive Iranians, predominantly young and educated, made the mistake of collaborating with violent, theocratic rednecks.
After they overthrew the Shah together, the rednecks took over.
It's difficult to bring nuance into the Iranian situation, because the hicks controlling Iran see the world in black and white: they believe they are infallible, and everyone but them - within and outside Iran - is evil.
As a result, they take actions that are difficult for even open-minded people to defend.
Incidentally, only a few days ago, when I heard the IRGC was using child soldiers again, my hunch was that it was only a rumor https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47548780 I mention that as evidence that I'm not consumed by irrational hatred here.
now ofc not saying anything about war, military roles and such things, but its good to consider before judging what kind of responsibilities are carried by whom, the context in which these people otherwise exist.