National Security Commission Adds 20 Trillion Tomans to Defense Budget

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced on Wednesday, January 2, that this commission added 20 trillion tomans to the defense budget in the amendment of the budget bill. According to Tasnim News Agency, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh mentioned that after the budget was presented to the Parliament on December 6, there were issues, and we, the representatives, protested. The head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission emphasized that the defense budget in the amended budget has increased to 40 trillion and 70 billion tomans, stating: "Of this amount, 20 trillion tomans have been allocated for defense capabilities, and the rest has been allocated in the form of Table 21, which also includes some rows related to defense and border items." Previously, reports had been published regarding a reduction in the defense budget, and some had criticized the conditional allocation of defense credits to the government’s surplus revenues. This comes at a time when Major General Amir Hatami, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, stated on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting that the defense budget is divided into two levels: one level is the budget presented with a ceiling of 407 trillion tomans as the general budget of the country, and the other part will be provided if the main government resources are secured. If both are secured, our defense budget will actually show good growth compared to the current year. The Iranian Minister of Defense indicated that the defense budget for the next year will increase by about 21% compared to 1397. However, he noted that what is ambiguous and raises questions is the dual-level nature of the defense budget. According to ISNA, Reza Talaii Nik, the parliamentary deputy of the Minister of Defense, called on the members of Parliament on Wednesday to amend the defense budget in the 98 budget bill. Reza Talaii Nik stated: "In this bill, 23 trillion tomans of defense credits are related to surplus revenues, which has raised serious concerns about this ratio of defense credits being dependent on surplus revenues of the 98 budget." The parliamentary deputy of the Minister of Defense stated that if the funding of the defense budget is amended from surplus revenues to the main budget items, the defense budget will actually increase compared to the current year. It was previously reported that the budget allocated to the Iranian Ministry of Defense in the 1398 bill had decreased by almost 50%, from 6,800 billion tomans in 1397 to 3,500 billion tomans. However, the budget for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) increased from 20 trillion tomans in the government bill to over 25 trillion tomans, marking an increase of about 25%.