Iranian parliament increases missile budget by 1 trillion tomans

While Iran's missile program and the activities of the IRGC's Quds Force have raised international concerns, the Iranian parliament has prepared a plan to expand the IRGC's missile and overseas activities.

Kazem Jalali, head of the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, told the Iranian Radio and Television Agency on Wednesday, July 27, that the plan envisages allocating 1,000 billion tomans (about $300 million) to expand missile activities and 1,000 billion tomans to fight terrorism by the IRGC's Quds Force.

This 17-article plan, titled "Countering America's Terrorist Actions," was drafted in the wake of terrorist attacks in Iran and, according to Mr. Jalali, is scheduled to be presented to representatives next week.

In this plan, the Ministry of Defense has also been tasked with preparing an operational plan to increase the country's defense and deterrence capabilities in the missile field within one month and submitting it to the Supreme National Security Council.

Although this plan has not yet been approved by the representatives, it seems that there may be a problem in approving it in the parliament, given the atmosphere in Iran after the terrorist attacks in Tehran and the IRGC's missile response to ISIS positions.

The plan to increase the budget for the IRGC's Quds Force and Iran's missile program comes at a time when these Iranian activities have sparked international concern and condemnation.

The United States government has imposed sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard Corps and individuals and companies linked to Iran's missile program. UN Resolution 2231 also prohibits Iran from developing missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

On the other hand, some countries in the Middle East also consider the activities of the IRGC's Quds Force and Iran's missile program to be a cause of instability and insecurity in the region.

The United States has also considered the activities of the IRGC's Quds Force in Syria to be helping the Bashar al-Assad government suppress the opposition and violate human rights in the country.

Source: Voice of America