To challenge US, Iran boosts spending on missile program, Revolutionary Guard

Tehran: Iran's parliament overwhelmingly has voted to increase spending on its ballistic missile program and its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in response to recent new American sanctions.

In a session on Sunday, 240 lawmakers voted for the bill, with only one abstention. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency says 247 lawmakers were on hand in the session.

The bill calls for the Defence Ministry and the Guard to increase spending, without elaborating.

The back-and-forth sanctions come as US President Donald Trump has threatened to renegotiate the nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers in 2015. That deal saw economic sanctions against Iran lifted in exchange for the Islamic Republic limiting its enrichment of uranium.

Iran meanwhile has launched ballistic missiles in tests, something it is allowed to do under the deal, despite American criticism.