Iran's Defense-Security Budget Increases by 128%

Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesperson for Hassan Rouhani's government, announced on Tuesday, March 9, that there has been a "128% increase in Iran's defense and security budget over a five-year period." According to news agencies, the spokesperson provided this statistic while detailing the government's budgetary performance from 2013 to 2017. Nobakht stated that the military and security budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran has increased by approximately 86% from 2013 to 2016. On March 3, he also mentioned in a public session of the parliament that "in 2013, the defense and security budget was 17,155 billion tomans, which the government proposed to increase to 39,200 billion tomans in the 2017 budget bill, representing a 128% increase." Gholamreza Kateb, a parliament representative, also reported on March 2 that Iran's defense budget increased by 21% in 2017 compared to 2016. Reports indicate that Iran's military budget in 2016 was over 34 trillion tomans. The representatives of the ninth and tenth parliaments have approved measures to increase Iran's military budget following the Vienna nuclear agreement. On Tuesday, the government spokesperson elaborated on the budgetary performance from 2013 to 2017 while the proposed budget bill for 2017 is currently under discussion in the parliament. On March 2, the parliament approved the general principles of the 2017 budget bill, and so far, they have reviewed and approved the details in nine sessions. On March 4, the parliament also voted on an additional clause in the budget bill that increased the budget for strengthening Iran's defense capabilities by 4 trillion tomans. In addition to the military and security budget, budgets for other sectors have also increased during the period from 2013 to 2016, with Nobakht stating that the increase in the social welfare budget during this time was also 93%. According to the government spokesperson, the budget for the Ministry of Education grew by about 116%, and the health sector budget increased by 46%. Nobakht also announced a 59% increase in current government expenditures from 2013 to 2016, adding that "this budget has been spent in the areas of health, security, social welfare, and education." Previously, on January 20, the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved plans during the review of the sixth development plan that, if confirmed by the Guardian Council, would require the government to add at least 5% of the "general budget" to the country's defense budget each year and also to take action on "developing and increasing missile production capabilities." According to the parliament's resolution, the government is required to take action on "developing and increasing missile production capabilities," "developing and strengthening air defense capabilities," "developing and strengthening electronic warfare and cyber defense capabilities," and "developing and updating drone production capabilities and arming them." Other actions that the government is mandated to implement include "modernizing military aircraft," "developing the naval fleet," "qualitatively and quantitatively strengthening the Basij," and "developing and strengthening combat units and rapid reaction brigades of the armed forces." This resolution was passed in the parliament amid Western countries' and international organizations' objections to Iran's missile programs in recent years. Resolution 2231 of the Security Council, while endorsing the JCPOA, has called on Iran to "avoid any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads for eight years from the first day of the implementation of the JCPOA, including the use of technology related to these missiles." However, this resolution has not prohibited Iran's missile tests and has not considered punitive measures. Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, had previously requested the Security Council to ask Iran to refrain from testing ballistic missiles, as he believes such tests have the potential to increase tensions in the region. However, Iran claims that its missile tests do not violate Resolution 2231 of the Security Council and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).