TEHRAN – Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Sunday that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has agreed with the request to withdraw €1.5 billion from the National Development Fund (NDF) to strengthen the defense sector.

On Sunday, lawmakers ratified a bill according to which €2.375 billion can be withdrawn from the NDF for different purposes including €1.5 billion for the defense sector, Mehr reported.

Larijani said based on the lawmakers’ requests, he had offered to the Leader 15 different cases of withdrawal from the fund. The Leader endorsed 10 cases and their amount cannot be changed, Larijani explained.

MH/PA