Rouhani says his gov't exceptionally boosted military power

Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2017

By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:

The incumbent administration boosted Iran’s military power exceptionally, with equipment and strategic facilities, President Hassan Rouhani told an annual Army Day ceremony in Tehran.

Rouhani said Iran's military power has grown in the past 3,5 years just as much as 10 years prior to that.

Every day Iran’s armed forces and defense industry make the country more powerful with innovations, Rouhani said.

From 2013 when he took office, Rouhani increased Iran’s defense budget by 86 percent, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, head of the Planning and Budget Organization said in February.

Rouhani assured that “Our neighbors should know that Iran’s military clout serves defense and our armed forces stand to guard the entire region,” adding that Iran’s response to trespassers, nonetheless, will be harsh.

For the current fiscal year (which started March 21), Iran’s defence budget is set at $11.6 billion, 128 percent greater than that of 2013.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2015 Iran’s defense budget stood at $10 billion, equal to 2.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

In that year, the US had the highest military expenditure, $596 billion, equal to 3.3 percent of its GDP. The military budget of Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia was $87 billion for that year_ equal to the 13.7 percent of the Arab country’s GDP, while Turkey’s military expenditure stood at $15 billion, which made 2.1 percent of its GDP.