Mehr News Agency — The Majlis approved on Saturday to allocate funds in order to thwart the U.S. plots and interference in Iran's internal affairs.
| Yasss! Deep-laid plots! We have thousands of them! I've got a couple right here in my drawer, in fact... |
The rls12.5b (roughly $1.5m) fund is also intended to lodge a complaint against the U.S. with an international court, including the claims of people injured with chemical weapons. The fund is a countermeasure to the U.S. Congress' Iran Freedom and Democratic Support Act as well as the approval of a similar act by the U.S. Senate.
| Was that a piggy squeal I just heard? |
The original Senate version of the bill included a provision to allocate $50m to fund anti-government Iranian media outlets, particularly the Los Angeles-based stations. Washington cut ties with Tehran in 1980 after the Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Since then, the U.S. has adopted an antagonistic stance towards Iran, and assisted the deposed Saddam Hussein in the 1980-1988 Iraqi-imposed war.
The Bush administration, which has branded Iran as part of the 'axis of evil', offered humanitarian aid to the victims of the December 26 Bam earthquake and dispatched an 80-member relief team and supplies. Bush also ordered a unilateral U.S. sanction against the Iranians living abroad to send aid including cash to the victims of the Bam quake. Iran, however, rejected a U.S. proposal to send a delegation headed by top Senator Elizabeth Dole to Tehran to deliver American relief, saying 'the time is not right yet ripe for such a visit'. The Iranian officials have stated any fundamental changes in U.S. policies toward Iran will change the prevailing hostility between the two arch-foes. |