Iran Army 'needs more funds to counter IS'

(MENAFN- Arab News) TEHRAN: A senior Iranian military official told parliament on Sunday the armed forces need a bigger budget to confront the Islamic State group whose influence is growing in neighboring countries.
'We have to face a new threat in the region. Terrorist groups are close to our borders' Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan who commands Iran's ground forces told parliament media reported. 'Today we see the presence of Daesh in Afghanistan and Pakistan' he said.
Iran's army and its Revolutionary Guards must be strengthened to be able 'to buy tanks transport vehicles and to overhaul our helicopters' he was quoted as saying.
The IS group which has seized chunks of Syria and Iraq to the west of Iran has also gained a foothold in its eastern neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John F Campbell has said that IS was recruiting fighters in Afghanistan but is not yet operational there.
'There's recruiting going on in Afghanistan there is recruiting going on in Pakistan. There is money being passed back and forth' he told reporters on Saturday in Kabul.
The Iranian general who warned that 'the battle is on the ground' did not say by how much the defense budget should be increased.
For the fiscal year ending in March 2016 the defense budget was increased by more than 30% to reach some $10 billion dollars. In addition the armed forces receive $1.2 billion from sovereign funds.
Pourdastan told Parliament that when IS launched its offensive in Iraq in June last year radicals advanced to Jalula just 40 km from the Iranian border. 'In less than three days we sent five brigades to the borders and our reconnaissance helicopters penetrated 40 kilometers into Iraq' Pourdastan added.