Iran Military Conscription Term Cuts

From Yahoo News:

Iran has shortened the length of its mandatory military service by up to two months, the Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

"The military service has been cut by two months in normal cases and by one month in underprivileged areas," where the term was 18 months, Brigadier General Moussa Kamali was quoted as saying.

"In the areas that (military) operations are being carried out, the term was 17 months... and now it has been cut to 16 months," added Kamali, who is chief conscription officer of the armed forces.

Military service in the Islamic republic lasted 24 months by the end of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war but has since been gradually shortened to less than two years.

According to Jane's Military Balance, the number of active armed forces in Iran stood at 545,000 in 2007.