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“My military service was in the Nainband barracks, the Navy Army barracks in Bandar Abbas. Our activities in the barracks were meaningless tasks that only served to crush our spirits and waste our time. These tasks included sweeping the grounds every morning and evening, cleaning the toilets twice a day, practicing marching, washing the metal food containers, cleaning useless weapons, occasional unjust punishments, dull ideological-political classes, and of course, guard duty. But these hardships were not shared by everyone. The clever kids (mostly known as Tehrooni kids), those who had money and connections – although not enough to serve in the command center in Tehran or the Noshahr barracks, which were closer to Tehran – spent their days and nights enjoying themselves and joking around with the officers. On paper, all tasks were supposed to be divided equally among all the ships (zero soldiers in the Navy), but in reality, the burden fell on small, defenseless groups who not only received no help, but also

Both groups were oppressed, they were low-ranking sailors, and one or two of them with broken Persian would translate the orders of the superiors correctly or incorrectly for others. This lack of knowledge or understanding of Persian language would lead to ridicule and severe punishments, which even the sailors from Minab or Kurdish descent did not understand the reason for. Apart from punishments, cleaning the toilets was almost always the responsibility of the Minabi sailors, and washing the dishes was done by the Kurds. These two groups also had the most guard duties. I remember many of them being so tired in the morning that during the anthem or speeches of the commander, they would close their eyes. The group leaders who stood on either side of the commander on the platform would show the closed eyes and then punish them after the morning assembly.

“After training, we were suspended for a month and a half until we were sent to our main mission location, the large island of Tonb. Some of the partisans were able to come up with excuses and were exempt from going to the island. From then on, every three months, we spent two and a half months on the island and had fifteen days of leave. The islands of Kharg, Tonb, Kuchak, and Abu Musa were considered war zones. On the island, the low-level tasks of cleaning, loading, and wandering were on the shoulders of the Minabi and Kurd children, and on the eve of spring 1367, America attacked the islands of Kharg and Abu Musa. It was midnight when they lined us up and said that an order had been received for a group of Tonb ships to go to Abu Musa for help. They made us stand on the dock on two feet. An old, terrifying warship was rocking on the

The image portrayed by the unknown sailor, the author of memories, is enough to make any fair person detest compulsory military service. The mandatory duty system is a condensed representation of all the vices of society; it’s as if the ruling power has decided to throw discrimination in such a way that young men, especially the voiceless and oppressed, are ready to accept any humiliation. Partisanship and corruption have become so ingrained in the military, police, and Revolutionary Guards that all the hardships of compulsory service (2) are thrown onto the weakest. In addition to the physical hardships of military service, there is also the fear of depression, addiction, and sexual harassment.

The duty system is placed alongside the educational system, judicial system, advertising system, and financial system, which create a system of care and punishment in service of the Islamic Republic. Individuals must be obedient and compliant. According to the law, mandatory service is a license to use necessary facilities for life. Military service is a tax on life that all young men must pay. After military service, the Iranian man has the right to obtain a birth certificate, passport, work permit, marriage, purchase property and a car, and if possible, a peaceful life. A silent contract has been formed between Iranians and the government: Iranian men are forced to go so that they can enter the economic cycle and live their lives upon their return; something they already know is impossible in today’s situation in Iran. Something that until twenty years ago was somewhat tolerable, one was hope for the future and the other was a general belief in its necessity as a rite of passage. Under the shadow of the Islamic Republic,

Rituals, ceremonies, and milestones are events that a person goes through to officially pass from one stage of life to the next in society. Our parents believed that going to the military made boys into men. In their eyes, boys in military uniforms gained a sense of manliness and prepared themselves to fulfill the role of a man and a father in the family. Today’s young men no longer see group living, guarding, and doing meaningless tasks, as well as the risk of drug use and sexual harassment, as necessary stages of maturity or “becoming a man.” They do not seek out this type of “becoming a man” that comes with humiliation, disrespect, and breaking their spirits.

From the perspective of livelihood and building a life, the ongoing economic crisis and increasing inflation not only do not promise better days after the end of mandatory service, but also intensify the fear of losing existing opportunities. A simple calculation shows that every person at the age of conscription comes to the conclusion that two years wasted in barracks without any financial achievement means eternal inability to build a normal life. In a situation where the Islamic Republic deliberately ignores economic improvement, kills hope for the future among Iranians, and plants the seed of economic incapacity among them, the most logical activity is to fight against mandatory conscription and prevent wasting two years of the best times of young people’s lives.

I’m sorry, there is no Farsi text provided. Please provide the text for translation.

Notes:

1- Memories of an Unknown Sailor.

2- The name that the general public had given to the conscription system, emphasizing its compulsory nature.