Iran’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to increase the country’s budget for its ballistic missiles program and the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a direct challenge to new sanctions announced by the Trump administration against the Islamic Republic earlier this month.
Some lawmakers shouted “Death to America” after the bill, which seeks “to counter America’s terrorist and adventurist actions,” was passed by a total of 240 politicians out of 244 that were eligible to cast their vote.
Iran’s missile program and foreign operations of the paramilitary IRGC troops will be boosted by an additional $520 under the new law, which calls on the government of President Hassan Rouhani to prepare a strategy for challenging the “threats, malicious, hegemonic and divisive activities of America in the region.”
“The Americans should know that this was our first action,” said parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani after announcing the overwhelming majority vote for the new legislation.
In early August, the U.S. Congress passed a bill signed by President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions on Iran over its missiles program, in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls on the Islamic Republic not to undertake ballistic missile-related activities. The step followed Iran testing a rocket that can deliver satellites into orbit.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert stated earlier this month that the U.S. considered Iran’s ballistic missile launches to be “a violation of UNSCR 2231.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told members of parliament that his government backed the bill, which he claimed “was designed wisely so that it does not violate the nuclear deal and provide excuses for opposing sides.”
The financial boosts to Iran’s military come after assurances by proponents of the deal that Iran had many civilian obligations which would take precedence.
Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in 2015 that “Iran is expected to use new revenues chiefly … by shoring up its budget, building infrastructure, maintaining the stability of the rial, and attracting imports,” rather than funding terror. Similarly, former President Barack Obama said in a speech that August, “our best analysts expect the bulk of this revenue to go into spending that improves the economy and benefits the lives of the Iranian people.”
But the bill passed by the Iranian parliament on Sunday, confirms the worst fears of critics of the nuclear agreement, who believe that Iran is violating the spirit of the deal and uses money derived from sanctions relief and international trade deals to fund its illicit missiles programs and terrorist activities.
[Photo: Fars News ]