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Source: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-recruits-Syrian-children-and-changes-their-faith-618436
Iran Recruits Syrian Children and Changes Their Faith
(Jerusalem Post) Mendi Safadi - Iran is recruiting Syrian children and teenagers, and influencing their religious beliefs, through the creation of Shia missionary schools, in order to foster their loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On the official Facebook page of the Syrian State Scouts, one can see children with photos of Iran's Supreme Leader and Iranian flags. Their shirts bear religious slogans as well as the Hizbullah flag. With the approval of the Syrian regime, Iran in 2011 opened primary and secondary schools that teach Shia studies on the Syrian coast and in Latakia, where there previously was no Shia community. The writer is head of the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Human Rights and Public Relations.