Why Are Young People Avoiding Military Service?

Military service is a vital issue for a large segment of Iranian youth. It is said that by completing this service, young men become men and that having a military service completion card is essential for employment, passport issuance, property registration, and even marriage proposals. Despite its significance, many young Iranians are currently avoiding military service. Many flee from it, and many prefer to pay money to avoid serving, regardless of the circumstances. This may explain why some Iranian parliamentarians report that over two million individuals are subject to the military service purchase law but have not enlisted by the deadline and now must pay a fine to close this important chapter of their lives. However, according to Ebrahim Karimi, deputy head of the police duty organization, only 280,000 out of 2.4 million eligible individuals registered for military service purchase this year. Why are Iranian youth not welcoming compulsory military service? Wasting time and losing job or educational opportunities are some reasons cited by young people: "I served at a time when I had been working for two or three years, and I had to leave my job to serve. When I returned, my work credibility was zero, and I had to start over from scratch." Some mention the unsafe moral environment in barracks: "Everyone had to adapt to the shape and color of those who bullied them. Very simple people came and learned to lie because they saw how easily it worked. It was just a kind of human service. It was very much about having human resources for small and worthless tasks." Most say that the training provided during military service is generally ideological and less practical and military-oriented, aligning poorly with the actual goals of military service: "First aid training was three sessions, while we had over twenty sessions on religious rulings. A cleric would come and talk about rulings, purity, ablution, and bathing. They showed films, and we would fall asleep. But no one came to teach these soldiers how to stop bleeding." Perhaps a combination of these reasons has made young people reluctant to complete military service, a concern noted in the Iranian parliament. Previously, Abbasali Mansouri, a member of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, announced that there are over 2.4 million individuals who have been absent from military service for more than ten years. Mansouri also stated that 300,000 educated Iranians abroad cannot return to Iran due to their military service absence. Houshang Hassan Yari, a professor at the Royal Military College of Kingston, Canada, believes that the compulsory nature of military service in Iran is a factor in its ineffectiveness and the youth's avoidance of it: "If we look at compulsory service, we see that it has more of a service aspect. Young people are taken for various tasks, and not necessarily through intensive military training will soldiers be created who can protect the country from potential foreign attacks. This is why many countries have abolished compulsory service and emphasized creating a professional and powerful military force that can defend the country. We do not see such a thing with compulsory service in Iran. If Iran wants to have a completely professional force, I believe it is appropriate for this compulsory service to end." According to the 2015 Iranian budget law, which was approved by the parliament at the government's proposal, individuals who have been absent for more than eight years can pay a fine to purchase their military service and be exempted from serving. However, the payment of amounts between 10 to over 50 million tomans may not be feasible for every absentee.