Iran starts work on new airbase in south
TEHRAN, Feb 15 (AFP) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has started
work on a new airbase in the southern province of Fars, the Tehran press
reported Monday.
The new airbase near the provincial capital of Shiraz was intended
as a "deterrent measure against Iran's enemies," newspapers quoted
the commander of the guards' airwing, General Mohammad-Baqr Qalibaf, as
saying at the inauguration ceremony Saturday.
The airbase is the second in the province -- the other dates from before
the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Iranian parliament adopted a defence budget of 2,800 billion rials,
or around 933 million dollars at the official exchange rate of 3,000 rials
to the dollar, for 1999-2000.
For the year ending March 21, Iran's defence budget was 2,900 billion
rials, or around 966 million dollars at the official exchange rate.
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