Expert: Economic Benefits of Sanctions Relief Likely to Boost Iran’s Regional Threat

The expected windfall Iran would receive from sanctions relief as part of a nuclear deal would likely benefit its internal and external security services—including proxy terrorist groups such as Hezbollah—which would further destabilize the Middle East, according to an analysis published today in The Wall Street Journal by Michael Singh, the managing director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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“In his most recent budget, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani proposed government expenditures of approximately $300 billion. While some domestic programs were increased—health-care spending rose 59%–so were security expenditures. Saeed Ghasseminejad and Emanuele Ottolenghi of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies noted that funding was up 48% for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and 40% for the Ministry of Intelligence and Security; overall defense spending, which amounts to 3% of Iran’s gross domestic product, rose 33%. These figures likely understate Iran’s security spending; as the Congressional Research Service recently noted, the Revolutionary Guard Corps spends “significant amounts of unbudgeted funds on arms, technology, support to pro-Iranian movements, and other functions.”

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Read the full article here.