At Least Half of Iran's Oil Revenues Will Be Spent on Armed Forces

An examination of Iran's budget bill for the year 1404 shows that 47% of the state's oil export revenues will be directly allocated to the armed forces of the Islamic Republic, while the government's share from these resources is 43%. This matter is mentioned in the first clause of the third note of the 1404 budget bill. According to this clause, out of a total of 1,196 trillion tomans in revenues from crude oil, gas, and gas condensates exports next year, 561 trillion tomans will be allocated for 'strengthening defense capabilities' for the armed forces. This figure is four times the allocation provided to the armed forces from oil deliveries in this year's budget (1403). Additionally, another 126 trillion tomans is defined under 'the share of other specific project approvals,' which will likely be distributed among military and security institutions. The bill does not provide details about 'specific projects,' but one of the footnotes of the third note refers to the 'Martyr Ashouri Project' as an example of a 'specific project.' There is not much information available about this project. Hassan Ashouri is introduced in Iranian media as the 'martyr of security' and is said to have been the character model for 'Mohammad' in the series Gando. According to the law, 14.5% of oil revenues from exports or domestic sales are allocated for covering costs and investments for the oil company, although this year's budget bill states that the armed forces are not obligated to pay this amount, and the government will pay it instead in the future. The government has estimated 509 trillion tomans (HMT) in revenues from oil and gas exports for next year's budget. Overall, the government anticipates daily oil exports of 1.85 million barrels for the next year, of which 550,000 barrels, valued at 687 HMT (12.4 billion dollars), will be allocated to the armed forces and specific projects. This type of budgeting comes at a time when, according to the Research Center of the Parliament, 18% of the government's oil budget was not realized in the first four months of this year, and it is expected that 18% of the government's oil budget will also not be realized next year.