In the section related to questions about “suicide threat of soldiers, exemption for mental and emotional health, suicide”, one topic stands out the most on an online platform connecting people with lawyers and legal experts: soldiers who want to be exempted with a medical exemption for mental and emotional health. One person wrote that they have served for seven months and have escaped three times during their service and also have a history of suicide and self-harm. (1) Where did this “military service” that is known as “sacred military service” in official and governmental literature and as “forced conscription” in general literature come from? Who were the first conscripts and what process did it go through until today, where we are faced with the phenomenon of forced conscription?

The story of compulsory military service, which itself was named “compulsory”, began on October 11, 1926. When it was announced that all Iranian males must serve for two years starting from the age of 21. In fact, the month of Mehr in 1305 SH (1926 AD) marked the beginning of a time when military service became a part of Iranian culture and social life.

Conscription is a practice that dates back to ancient times in Iranian history. For example, the report of Xenophon on the army of Cyrus the Great mentions that “young men from the age of 25 were placed under the command of city rulers… Those who went to war were equipped with armor, a shield in their left hand, and a dagger or sword in their right hand… Men over the age of 50 no longer participated in wars outside their own land.” (3) These military forces were divided into two categories: permanent and temporary. The permanent soldiers were always ready to serve, while the temporary soldiers only came together in times of necessity. Just like the Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sassanid kings, all the time the rulers had a group of dedicated warriors at their disposal. Part of this conscription was during the satrapy period and later became a province; meaning that conscription was carried out locally in the provinces and satrapies, both in a

Since the early Qajar period, conscription was prevalent in a government and continuous manner, and the method of work was based on “bunichbandi”. Bunich was an old term used to calculate taxes and collect them from various villages and districts. This same method was also used for what was called “private compulsory service”. This meant that each village paid a certain amount of taxes and provided a certain number of soldiers. Private here meant that each village or district could choose and pay for their own soldiers (the same taxes) to serve the government.

However, what we know about the order and structure of the army in Iran dates back to the year 1244 AH. This was when Mirza Mohammad Khan Sepahsalar, the Minister of War and Prime Minister of the Naseri era, compiled the “Military Code Book” and with the handwriting of “Sultan Sahibqiran”, officially announced it throughout Iran. Naser al-Din Shah wrote at the beginning of this book that this text is “the best laws for the order of the Iranian army” and in general, after this date, this book should be the “basis of military action” and what is implemented should be based on it. (6) Half a century later, in 1294 AH, a new law for conscription, which was called “Qushun-giri” at that time, was approved, which was based on the same structure and with minor changes, was implemented until the end of the Qajar period. (5)

At the beginning of the 14th solar century, Reza Khan, who was the Minister of War at the time, took action in the army and established a branch called “Soldier Recruitment” or “New Recruitment” and set regulations for military service. Later, when he was the Prime Minister of Iran, on June 6th, 1925, the Fifth Parliament of the National Council passed a law of 32 articles for compulsory service. (4) This law initially faced opposition from the clergy and was later passed with the intervention of Seyyed Hassan Modarres, a representative of the parliament. In part of his speech to convince the clergy of the parliament, Modarres said, “Have you ever seen a picture of Amir without a sword?” (4)

“This law became the foundation of military service in its current form. In Bahman 1304, the branch of “conscription” was changed to “mandatory system” and the word “mandatory” was replaced with “military service”. (6) This law was implemented from the following year, Mehr 1305, and every young Iranian male was required to spend two years of his life in the armed forces. For the first time, those born in 1284 and 1285 were called for mandatory service. (5) According to this call, one million people were eligible, but the country only needed one hundred thousand soldiers. As a result, a lottery was held every year among the eligible individuals and there were specific regulations and conditions for conscription. In 1313, the number of regions and independent areas increased to 17, in accordance with the organization of 17 army divisions. (7) In the following years, the law was updated and amended in order to

During the course of these changes, in 1956, the responsibilities related to conscription were transferred from the army to the Ministry of Interior. However, the implementation of this law was delayed until October 1962 due to the unpreparedness of the Ministry of Interior. Finally, on March 19, 1965, the duties of conscription were assigned to the National Gendarmerie and on January 20, 1966, a bill was passed by the National Consultative Assembly and the Senate to transfer officers, officials, and properties of conscription to the National Gendarmerie. From this date on, the central administration was referred to as the “General Public Duty Administration.” (7) This law faced changes in 1968 and 1971 in an effort to make it more comprehensive compared to previous eras. Finally, in 1971, this more comprehensive law was passed by both assemblies. (8) However, from that year until today, with

After the victory of the February 1979 revolution until 1984, there were no changes in the conscription law in Iran. However, on October 21, 1984, during the Iran-Iraq war and due to the needs of the war situation, the law of compulsory service underwent changes and was approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly. (6) This new law included new institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the management center for seminaries, or their official representatives, or those with official permission from the Supreme Council, who would now be included in the law of military service. (10)

The next step and 27 years after this change, in November 2011, the Military Service Law was amended with 36 articles from the previous law and 30 additional articles in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, under the pretext of empowering, improving social status and improving the conditions of military service, and was reviewed. (6) (8)

The length of public service duty period is determined by the approved law of 1363, which is thirty years. This thirty years is divided into four periods: two years of emergency service, eight years of reserve service, ten years of first reserve service, and ten years of second reserve service. This law also allows for the reduction of the emergency service period to 18 months in cases of excess personnel; a measure that was implemented in the following years and many served 18 months instead of 24 months of emergency service and received their service completion card. Additionally, in April 1388, based on the announcement of the Armed Forces Headquarters, it was decided that the service period of conscripts with bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and specialized doctoral degrees should be reduced by one, two, three, and four months, respectively. Before that, some young men whose fathers had participated in the Iran-Iraq war were exempt from service based on their father’s participation time. All of these

Today, in this amendment to the mandatory service law, the length of military service in normal areas is 24 months for native soldiers and 21 months for non-native soldiers. Additionally, if a soldier serves in a non-conflict or harsh weather zone, they will serve 21 months if they are native to that area and 18 months if they are not native. For native and non-native soldiers in conflict zones, a service of 17 months is also considered.

In the final attempt to make changes to the conscription law, in the 11th Islamic Consultative Assembly, one of the members of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission announced the Assembly’s efforts to change the method of military service and stated, “We are seeking to make military service a profession, as it is in many countries. If military service is to become a profession, individuals commit to 5 years, but their rights will be like those of a civil servant. If they prove themselves during those 5 years to have the qualifications of a military personnel and they themselves are interested in this matter, they can become official military personnel and continue their work.” (11) The effectiveness of this plan and efforts in this regard is highly debatable. These efforts have been made before in different ways, but they have faced resistance from the appointed and military-security branches of the Islamic Republic’s government. In the last year of the 6th Islamic Consultative Assembly, a proposal was also put

The story of mandatory military service in the past hundred years has been a part of the ordinary lives of Iranian citizens and has had a serious impact in all areas, even in the social classes. In 1998, the issue of buying military service was introduced and continues to this day. Those with a diploma or lower can buy their service for 250 million tomans, while those with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate degree can buy their service for 400, 600, and 800 million tomans respectively. A long process of conscription and classification has passed until today, but it can be said that the possibility of going to military service has never been dependent on financial means like it is today. This is the reason why the underprivileged and lower economic classes of Iranian society, who do not have money, are forced to go to military service and spend about two years of their lives in mandatory service. This situation and the pressures that come with it lead to mental and

More than a hundred years have passed since the beginning of compulsory military service in Iran, yet it seems to still linger on the heels of the past, and even worse; a year wasted compared to last year.

Notes:

1- Questions related to “suicide threats of soldiers, exemption of mental and emotional issues in military service, suicide” – Dadrāh, the gateway for people to communicate with lawyers and legal experts.

2- When were the first “Ash-e Khor” dishes in Iran born?, Fars News Agency, 19 Mehr 1399.

3- Mo’tavafi, Asadollah, The Four Thousand Year History of the Iranian Army from the Elamite Civilization to 1320 Solar Hijri, 1382, p. 62.

4- Hashemi, Fatemeh, Reflection of Conscription and the Conscription System among Different Classes, Institute of Political Studies and Research, 6 November 2021.

5- The history of military service in Iran, Shafaghna, 20 Mehr month 1399.

6- Azar, Masoud, a century with Putin and military hats: From ‘Qibla-ye Alam’ to ‘Vali Amr’, BBC Persian, 20 Farvardin 1401.

Review of 87-year-old Military Service File in Iran, ISNA News Agency, 15 Khordad 1391.

8- A look at the ups and downs of military service in Iran; Military service in Iran turns 101 years old!; From the lack of effort to reform laws to the current approach of government officials towards duty, the newsletter of Iranian students, June 6, 2016.

From 1350 until today, we have 3.5 million absentees from military service, Shoareshahr website, 13 Bahman 1400.

10- Detailed explanation of the Guardian Council’s opinion on the proposal “Amendment of some articles of the Conscription Law approved in 1363”, Guardian Council, 15 Farvardin 1389.

11- Details of the plan to amend the conscription law in the parliament/ Will military service be reduced to 5 years?, Ensaf News, 28 Farvardin 1402.

On December 3, 2003, the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament approved the proposal for a general duty system, IRNA News Agency reported.