Tehran ups missile program funding in response to American sanctions
By Ali Mustafayev
The Parliament of Iran approved a bill on allocation of funds for the development of its missile program in response to the sanctions imposed by the U.S.
The bill mandates the government to allocate an additional $260 million for the "development of the missile programme" and the same amount to the Revolutionary Guards's foreign operations wing, the Quds Force, IRNA said.
The bill was supported by 240 of 247 parliamentarians. Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani, addressing the session on August 13, said that the document seeks to “counter the terrorist and adventurous actions of the U.S. in the region,” RIA Novosti reports.
“The Americans must know that this was our first action,” said Larijani after announcing the overwhelming majority vote for the package on Sunday.
The vote came after new US sanctions in July against Iran, targeting Tehran's missile programme. The U.S. state department said 18 entities or individuals would be affected by the new measures.
"The United States remains deeply concerned about Iran's malign activities across the Middle East, which undermine regional stability, security and prosperity," the sanctions document added.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the bill is backed by the foreign ministry and the government and is part of measures by the JCPOA supervision committee to confront the recent US Congress law.
The U.S. government states that the nuclear potential of Iran is still not clear, and the Comprehensive Plan of Action accepted in Vienna in 2015 just delays Iran’s coming into being a nuclear power, and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions may be potentially dangerous for the universal peace and security.
Iran refuses accusations and argues that there is no danger in its missile testing and that each country has rights to improve its defense system.
The parliamentarians of Iran agreed, during the meeting, that peace can be sustainable only on principles of the equality of governments’ rights, with respect of sovereignty and non-interference in other countries’ policy.
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