Conscription in Iran will now be for a two-year period, up from 21 months, beginning the next Iranian calendar year.
A spokesman for the Conscription Department of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mousa Kamali, said on Tuesday September 30 that the three-month increase in the length of compulsory service is due to the declining birth rate, the need to plan for population growth and the provision of public service professionals.
This is the second time that military service has been extended in the past three years.
Kamali added that in operational and security zones, the time of service will be reduced by three months, and in deprived regions or regions with a rough climate, it will be reduced by two months.
He also added that in line with the government’s general policies of encouraging population growth, military service for married men will be reduced by three months. In addition, for every child they father, an extra three months will be deducted from their service.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has called for a ban on all population-control policies, saying Iran has the potential for population growth.
Military service in Iran is compulsory for all men over 18; however, some are exempted for medical or other reasons.
