Let’s not remain silent in the face of soldiers’ suicide.

More than two years have passed since the suicide of “Saman Dashti”, a 20-year-old young man who pulled the trigger on the last day of his military service and ended his life, but his family and friends are still in shock about what happened. During his military service, what disaster had befallen him that when he found out he had to stay longer and they didn’t sign his discharge papers, he chose death over staying in those conditions?

Based on reports previously published in domestic media by Adalat Dashti, Saman’s father, he was a happy and loving son to his family. He was supposed to bid farewell to his family on November 21, 2021, in his military uniform. Every time he called from the barracks, he would talk excitedly about wanting to work and send his mother to Mashhad with his salary, and buy a car for his father. The question is, why did Saman, full of hope and dreams, not even think about his parents and commit suicide when he found out he had a service deficit? Were his desires not big enough to keep him alive, or was the darkness of the environment he was in not allowing him to see any glimmer of hope?

One of the Twitter users wrote in response to Saman’s suicide in the virtual space: “Suicide is the act of a soldier who has reached a dead end and sees no one to hear his cries against injustices and humiliations. He has no hope that his voice will be heard beyond the high walls of the military system. I wish the sound of Saman’s arrow in the middle of the Sepah Square in the military organization would shake us all.”

Unfortunately, Saman was not the first soldier to commit suicide in the past few years, and he will not be the last. Do you remember “Arian Taheri”? On June 22nd, the Farsi timeline on Twitter was filled with pictures of a young man singing Kurdish songs. He, who had dreams of becoming a singer, ended his life in the barracks by shooting himself. “Mahmoud Arash” is another young man who committed suicide on May 31st of this year while serving in the compulsory military service at the Sepah Pasdaran barracks in Urmia. But in all cases, these suicides were seen as “accidents”; accidents that were reported in the news and not followed up on. Even officials who easily talk about social issues such as profanity, addiction, and abortion, do not provide any official statistics on soldier suicides. In fact, the Islamic Republic has adopted a policy of silence in the face of the bitter reality of the increasing number

In this regard, I had a telephone conversation with Maryam Pirouz, a psychologist from Tehran. Emphasizing that the mental crisis of soldiers has entered a dangerous phase, she said: “Since the time of Reza Shah until today, there has been compulsory military service in Iran and soldiers in various stages of their service would suffer from depression and addiction. But we see that the damages of the military service period have entered a more dangerous phase and almost one out of every six soldiers has seriously considered suicide.”

Maryam Pirouz believes that the decrease in the level of hope for life among young people is one of the main reasons for the increase in suicide rates among soldiers. She says, “Economic pressure has put a burden on people’s shoulders. When an 18-year-old goes to the military, he thinks to himself, what will he do after his service is over? Gone are the days when they would put their sweetheart’s handkerchief in their pocket during their military service and hope and wish to marry the girl they love after their service. This love and hope for soldiers who were sent to deprived areas gave them hope and motivation to endure the difficult conditions. When they would spend the night until morning on top of a watchtower and not see any movement in the distance, the dream of tomorrow’s military service gave them the strength to make it through the night. But for years now, the system itself has been shooting down the dreams of young people. A person without dreams is much

He also believes that the suppression of popular protests, massacres, widespread arrests of protesters, and ignoring the demands of the youth have caused anger in society, especially among the youth, who may resort to extreme measures and end all this pressure by pulling the trigger on themselves.

Pirooz continues, “Now, to an 18-year-old who is carrying the burden of social, economic, and political crises, they say that if you don’t get accepted into university, you have to go to the military and if you don’t go, you won’t be allowed to leave the country and continuing your education will become difficult. It’s better to say that they will be trapped on an island with no escape route to a better life.”

This psychologist considers the use of soldiers in suppressing people as one of the factors contributing to the high suicide rates among soldiers. He says, “During the Pahlavi era, when a young man went to the military, his family and friends would say, ‘He’s going to the military, he’ll become a man and come back.’ At that time, everyone served in the army and soldiers received training under military commanders. But today, soldiers are assigned to different divisions for their service. Some are placed under the command of the Revolutionary Guards, while others are sent to prisons to witness executions during morning prayers or to be placed in front of the people during protests for their rights. On the other hand, the humiliating treatment they receive is a subject of much discussion. For example, in Turkey, when a young man goes to the military, they celebrate and say he’s going to serve his country; meaning that the concept of homeland holds a deep meaning for them and they go to serve their country

Maryam Pirouz also refers to the negative impact of the martyrdom system in the Islamic Republic and says: “Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, they have constantly promoted the culture of martyrdom. They say go become a martyr, go kill yourself for others, give your life for the people of Syria, give your life for the people of Palestine and Lebanon, serve the best food to your guests and do not eat it yourself, and so on. In fact, for years they have taught us that we are not important and others are. They have taken away our self-worth. I must say that our educational and social infrastructure is very damaged.”

This psychologist, in response to the question of what role the draft and exemptions for the sons of the elite play in exacerbating the mental crisis of soldiers, said: “It creates resentment. You see, at one point they announced that you could come and buy your way out of military service with money. Who didn’t go to the military? Those who had money. And who has the most money? The answer is clear: the sons of the elite. The working class and rural class, who struggle to provide for their families, do not have the means to buy their sons out of military service. Some of the elite also received exemptions from military service without paying any money, through political connections. Of course, there has always been favoritism, but not to this extent and visibility. Social media has made these inequalities even more apparent. We see a certain elite posting pictures with girls by the pool in Europe and America, while their son of the same age has to go to the military

In confirmation of Maryam Pirouz’s statements regarding the increase in suicide rates among soldiers, I draw your attention to a tweet from a Twitter user who wrote: “One of my responsibilities is to archive inspection letters. That’s why I can read a lot of confidential letters … not that they are important. But one thing that they don’t tell you about, but it’s stuck in my throat, is the very high suicide rate among soldiers. To the point where they don’t even know what to do to fix it.”

It is not unspoken that even the Journal of Forensic Medicine has written in a study about the rate of suicide among youth: “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people and adolescents. Among those at risk for suicide are soldiers.” (2)

The question now is why the government continues to try to keep the suicide of soldiers in its black box archive? What is the duty of each of us as a father, mother, citizen, political activist, human rights activist, sociologist, psychologist, teacher, etc. in standing against compulsory military service and the harm that the suicide of soldiers inflicts on families, society, and young people? Let’s not stay silent.

Notes:

1- “Maryam Pirouz” is a pseudonym for a psychologist who participated in this interview (from inside Iran).

2- Amiri, Sohrab, and Basami, Masoud, A study of the attitudes of army personnel towards the causes of soldiers’ suicide.

Iranian Forensic Medicine Journal

Volume 28, Issue 1, Pages 42-35.