Tasnim � Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei exempted the Iranian male athletes winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the world and Asian sports competitions from serving the compulsory military service.

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that Ayatollah Khamenei, commander-in-chief of the Iranian Armed Forces, has approved a proposal to grant conscription exemption to the male athletes of the country�s national teams who win silver or bronze medals in the world competitions or Asian games.

Earlier, only the Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalists, those receiving a gold or a silver in the world games, and the Asian gold winners were exempted from the draft.

Iranian men reaching the age of 18 should serve 2 years on active duty and are then transferred to the reserve force.