The Islamic Republic’s Law Enforcement Command in Kurdistan has warned absentee conscripts that, should they fail to report for compulsory military service, they will face extended service obligations and be barred from continuing their education, from employment, from leaving the country, and from certain social rights and privileges.
This warning has been issued at a time when, over the past several months, growing indications have emerged of government efforts to expand personnel numbers within military and support structures. The IRGC has likewise previously launched recruitment campaigns whose reach, according to documented reports, has extended even to individuals under the age of eighteen.
The Hana Organization for Human Rights holds that this intensified pressure on those subject to compulsory military service must be assessed against the backdrop of the current military situation. Should the conflict potentially expand to encompass ground operations, the government’s need for soldiers, protective forces, and support personnel would increase substantially. From this vantage point, the threat of sweeping social exclusion directed at conscripts may form part of an effort to expand and secure the manpower reserves of the armed forces.
Hana further emphasizes that the use of the right to education, employment, and freedom to leave the country as instruments of pressure to compel young people into compulsory service, particularly under wartime conditions, raises serious human rights concerns.
Taken together, these measures strengthen the likelihood that the Islamic Republic, even as the conflict continues, is preparing its human capacity for broader military scenarios, including the possibility of a ground war.