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Provinces

Conscription Damages Iranian Youth

March 24, 2015
OstanWire
3 min read
Conscription Damages Iranian Youth

A senior military officer has claimed that Iran's policy of compulsory military service is damaging the economy and that the country’s armed forces could operate with half the number of personnel they currently do.

Speaking to an audience at Tehran University on March 22, Mohammad Akbar Halvaee, the ex-deputy of the Military Service Office, said that many young men did not benefit from conscription economically or socially.  By making military duty compulsory, he said, Iran was “transferring a productive economic labor force to an environment where it is left idle and unproductive.” In some cases, the mandatory policy interfered with an individual’s ability to pursue higher education.

The statements, which were part of a seminar on “Compulsory Military Service and Fair Policies” hosted by the university, followed the approval of a bill in parliament targeting young men who attempt to buy their way out of the two-year duty.

According to Mashhad News, Halvaee said Iran’s armed forces could operate with 200,000 military personnel in place, rather than the 400,000 currently serving. However, he said, military personnel were being put to work, even though they were not strictly required.

“On average only 64 percent of those eligible for military service are recruited, with the number falling to 50 percent and lower in some years,” Halvaee said.  “Among the remaining 36 percent who do not attend military service, 10 to 15 percent are regarded as absent. Therefore, only around 20 percent are legally exempted.”

 

Military Service: What is it Good for?

“Compared to those who are exempted from service, [conscripted] soldiers fall behind in life and have to compensate for the lost time after the completion of their service,” the former official said.

Halvaee went on to suggest that the policy on military service was in need of a substantial overhaul, and that the majority of the public did not view mandatory service with respect or honor.

“Whenever we want to do a great favor for somebody, we exempt him from military service. We exempt war veterans, sport medalists and winners at Science Olympiads. Therefore, military service is not regarded as a holy act, but rather as a difficult, undesirable task.”

“Every few years the regulations are updated to allow people to buy their military service and pay for their absence from it.”

The two-year program did not have a defined strategy, and he said there had been no fundamental change in the way it worked since 1925.

“The only change was that, after the revolution, the period of military service was extended from 12 months to 28 months.” But, he said, the country’s leaders and top military officials had not specified what qualities might be gained from military service, or what benefits it could offer. At this stage, people are aware of the fact that military service counts towards a person’s retirement age, but, beyond this, there were no clear advantages.

Often, he said, armed forces units were made up of young conscripted soldiers “from different traditions and different walks of life” who had no “specific aim.” The military, he said, was no longer “goal-oriented,” making it difficult for conscripts to benefit from it.

Halvaee did admit that there were benefits to conscription, and that the “cultural exchange” that came out of diverse groups of people working together was one of them. But there were drawbacks too. “The problems they face in the garrisons leave marks on their social behavior later in life. For families, concerns begin as soon as a boy is born. Even the families who can apply for exemptions from military service for their sons suffer from these same concerns.”

“Some university students prolong their studies in order to escape military service for as long as possible,” the ex-deputy told the audience. “Some even go to university for this purpose, imposing unfruitful expenditures on their families and the country. Those who go to military service are deprived from higher education as there is nothing there to encourage them to resume their studies after the end of their service.”

 

Read the original article in Persian

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