Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 21, 2020—The Iranian regime has spent billions of dollars on propping up the Assad regime in Syria, a member of the Majlis (parliament) has said. Etemad Online, a state-run news website, quoted Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, MP from Kermanshah and member of the Majlis Security Commission, as saying: “We may have given $20-30 billion to Syria.”
The remarks, which were published on Wednesday, were said in a Majlis session dating back in March.
“When I went to Syria, some complained that I had caused expenses, but I will say this again: We may have given $20-30 billion to Syria. The money of this people was spent there,” Falahatpisheh said.
When Falahatpisheh was the chairman of the Security Commission, he led a parliamentary delegation to Syria, where he met with Emad Khamis, the Prime Minister of the Assad regime.
The Iranian regime has been entrenched in the Syrian war since it broke out in 2011. In addition to financial support, Tehran has been sending a constant flow of weapons and armed forces to the country to prevent the overthrow of its ally Bashar al-Assad. According to the estimates made by the Iranian Resistance, the mullahs’ regime may have spent up to $100 billion on the Syrian war.
Regarding the increase in price of gasoline, which caused mass protests across Iran in November, Falahatpisheh said, “How many economic problems do we have in the country? The increase in gasoline prices generates 2 trillion rials per day. This is the average revenue generated by the increase in gasoline prices and selling the surplus to other countries. We can distribute this 200 trillion rial to the provinces to solve their problems. This is just part of the revenue.”
The remarks are published at a time that the regime has lifted coronavirus quarantines and is forcing the people to go back to work, claiming that the government does not have the financial means to support continued lockdowns. The reopening of the economy has caused a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases across the country and has returned several provinces into critical conditions.
“In the budget, oil revenue equals to a fourth of the share of taxes. This means that in reality, it is the people who are paying for the country’s expenses. And this is a country that is sitting on a sea of oil,” Falahatpisheh said. “If we consider all of this, it means that we have the necessary budget to solve the country’s economic problems, that is, if the budget is not spent on other things.”
This MP also attacked Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Majlis, and said, “The Speaker represents the Majlis in some decision-making institutions. Larijani wasn’t an MP. In fact, he represented those institutions, especially the Supreme National Security Council or the branches of power.”
The Supreme National Security Council decides on crucial issues. It is presided by regime president Hassan Rouhani and all its decisions are vetted by the supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
