Dubai: Iranian lawmakers approved plans on Monday to expand military spending to five percent of the budget.
The vote is seen as a boost to Iran’s military establishment. Iran has test-fired several ballistic missiles since the nuclear deal was reached with world powers that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for halting its nuclear weapon programme. The United States, Britain, France and Germany wrote to Ban in March about the missile tests, which they said were “inconsistent with” and “in defiance of” the council resolution.
Most UN sanctions on Iran were lifted after the deal but Iran is still subject to a five-year UN arms embargo.
In a report submitted to the Security Council before he was succeeded by Antonio Guterres on Jan. 1, Ban expressed concern that Iran may have violated the embargo by supplying weapons and missiles to Hezbollah.
