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Source: https://www.memri.org/reports/us-money-transferred-iran-used-expand-irans-military-budget
Was U.S. Money Transferred to Iran Used to Expand Iran's Military Budget?
(MEMRI) Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli - The government of Iranian President Rouhani has submitted to the Majlis (parliament) a draft budget for FY March 2017-March 2018. The budget envisages an increase of 39%, $10.3 billion, in funds earmarked for defense, including a big increase in the budget of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). A branch of the IRGC, the Qods Force Brigade, commanded by Gen. Qasem Soleimani, is responsible for spreading Iran's subversive and, often, terrorist activities across the Middle East and beyond. The budget allocation for the IRGC for 2017 translates into 77% of the total defense budget. While we cannot establish whether the money transferred from the U.S. went directly into the expanded defense budget, it, at a minimum, enabled the government to release an equal amount of money for defense purposes. Notably, the increase in Iran's defense budget for 2017 is approximately equal to the amount transferred by the U.S.