TEHRAN: The government of Iran has proposed to triple its military budget as tensions with arch-rival Israel soar after recent missile strikes.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh MoHajjerani at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday said the move would see “a significant increase of more than 200 percent in the country’s military budget.”
She did not elaborate and Iran has not disclosed any figures regarding its military spending, however, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank, Iran’s military budget in 2023 was about $10.3 billion. The lawmakers are expected to finalize the proposed budget in March.
Iran and Israel on Monday blamed each other for endangering the peace of the Middle East in a heated exchange at a United Nations meeting.
The development comes days after Israel carried out strikes on Iran. According to the Iranian army, four soldiers were killed in the strikes while radar systems were also damaged.
Earlier Iran’s on October 1 targeting Israel with 200 missiles, in retaliation for attacks that killed the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as one of its own commanders.
“All efforts have been made to meet the country’s defence needs and special attention has been paid to this issue,” the government spokeswoman MoHajjerani said.
The regional tensions increased after Israel started a military offensive in the Gaza Strip on October 7. As per reports Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza now in its 389th day has killed at least 43,061 people and injured more than 101,223.
Last month, Israel has also been fighting the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
