All young men who reach the age of 18 must spend about two years of compulsory military service in the Iranian army or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.^[1] Often, the General staff of the armed forces of Iran chooses where people will serve, and a person cannot choose where to serve.^[1] The length of conscription is between 18 months to 2 years.^[1][2]

Before the 1979 revolution, women were also forced to serve in the military.^[3] However, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, some Ayatollahs considered women's military service to be disrespectful to women by the Pahlavi government and banned women's military service in Iran.^[4] Therefore, Iranian women and girls were completely exempted from military service, which caused Iranian men and boys to oppose.^[5]

In Iran, men who refuse to go to military service are deprived of their citizenship rights, such as employment, health insurance,^[6] continuing their education at university,^[7] finding a job, going abroad, opening a bank account,^[8] etc.^[9] Iranian boys have so far opposed mandatory military service and demanded that military service in Iran become a job like in other countries, but the Islamic Republic is opposed to this demand.^[10] Some Iranian military commanders consider the elimination of conscription or improving the condition of soldiers as a security issue and one of Ali Khamenei's powers as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,^[10][11] so they treat it with caution.^[12] In Iran, usually prosperous and wealthy people are exempted from conscription.^[13][14] Some other boys can be exempted from conscription due to their fathers serving in the Iran-Iraq war.^[15][16]

This period for military service is divided into two parts; The basic training period is about 2 months in some determined garrisons, and after that, they are sent to their main destination garrison. The conscripts do not have any authority to select the branches for serving this compulsory period. When the applicants submit their applications, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran decides to assign them to different organizations based on their needs and availability. These garrisons belong to different branches consisting of the Islamic Republic of Iran Regular Forces (Artesh): Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force (IRIAF), Khatemolanbia Air Defense Headquarters; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enqelab-e Eslami, IRGC): Ground Resistance Forces, Navy, Aerospace Force, Quds Force (special operations). There is also, Non-military service (Civilian Service) (Persian: امریه read "Amriyeh") is a substitute for military service.

While non-military options such as Amriyeh present an attractive alternative to some, they are not without their shortcomings. Despite the apparent allure of avoiding military uniform, performing official tasks, and potentially securing post-conscription employment, these options can also breed intense competition and demands for applicants. It's important to note that these options require individuals to meet stringent requirements such as high academic achievement, research experience, publications, and innovative ideas. This effectively excludes a significant portion of potential applicants who may not have had the same opportunities to meet these standards. Moreover, the organizations eligible to hire such conscripts, such as various ministries and knowledge-based organizations, are restricted and can limit opportunities for wider employment.

Conscription was first introduced by Reza Shah in June 1925 and approved as law by the National Consultative Assembly. At that time every male person who had reached 21 years old must serve in the military for 2 years. However, as the country needed 100,000 men and the qualified population then was 1,000,000, they announced just one man between every 10 men must serve in the military.^[20][21]

Conscription time is shown in months in each year:

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, both men and women were conscripted. Post-revolution, the law changed and women were no longer subject to conscription. ^[22][23]

• Soldiers in the army ground force dormitory
• Soldiers of the army ground forces in the barracks
• A soldier assembling and disassembling his gun parts with closed eyes
• shooting practice
• Bringing a gun magazine
• Military alert in the barracks
• skeeting
• Soldiers in a training marching (Kermanshah, Iran)