Iran moves to triple military budget amid Israel tensions

TEHRAN - Iran's government has proposed to triple its military budget, its spokeswoman said Tuesday, as tensions with arch-rival Israel rise following recent tit-for-tat missile strikes.

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani outlined the move that would see "a significant increase of more than 200 percent in the country's military budget" at a news conference in Tehran.

She did not elaborate and Tehran has not disclosed any figures, but according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank, Iran's military spending in 2023 was about $10.3 billion.

The proposed budget will be debated, with lawmakers expected to finalise it in March.

Iran and Israel on Monday accused each other of endangering Middle East peace in a heated exchange at a UN meeting.

It came days after Israel carried out strikes on Iran in response to an October 1 missile barrage that the Islamic republic launched against Israel.

The Iranian army reported four soldiers killed and damage to "radar systems".

Iran's October 1 strike, involving 200 missiles, was in retaliation for attacks that killed the leaders of the Iran-backed groups 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 Mohajerani said.

The regional tensions flared after Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip to eliminate the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in response to the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.

Since last month, Israel has also been battling Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.