Israel Matzav

Iran budgets $20MM to expose US human rights abuses

Passage of the bill suggests the depth of mistrust that remains between the nations as Iran faces a September deadline to respond to President Obama's offer for talks. Iranian lawmakers said the legislation was in retaliation for what they consider similar action by the United States.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill in July that would allocate $30 million for technologies to allow the U.S. government's Farsi-language satellite and radio stations to bypass Iranian government efforts to jam their broadcasts. An additional $20 million would be set aside for developing Web sites and other technologies that will improve Iranian access to censored information. An additional $5 million is authorized for documenting information about human rights in Iran.

Alaedin Boroujerdi, the head of the national security and foreign relations committee of Iran's parliament, called the fund for investigating alleged U.S. abuses "necessary."

"We must respond in kind to America's injustice and tyranny and the interference of this country against Iran," Boroujerdi said, according to Press TV. The lawmakers need to vote again on the bill within six months in order to finalize it.

If approved, the ministries of foreign affairs, intelligence, information technology and Islamic culture will decide how to spend the money. The $20 million will be withdrawn from Iran's Foreign Reserve Fund, where most of the nation's oil income is kept.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:22 PM