The Iran Freedom Support Act (, 120 Stat. 1344, , enacted September 30, 2006) is an
Act of Congress
An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...
that appropriated $10 million and directed the
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
to spend that money in support of "pro-democracy groups" opposed to the
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. Opponents claimed the bill was a first step towards a
US-led invasion of the country.
In response to the passage of the bill, President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
lauded the Congress "for demonstrating its bipartisan commitment to confronting the Iranian regime's repressive and destabilizing activities."
Possible recipients of money
American authorities have refused to announce the names of groups that have received money under this act, and no group has officially acknowledged this either.
Reaction
Following introduction of the bill in the Senate, Iran responded "those who draft such plans lag behind the times, they live in their daydreams."
See also
*
Iran–United States relations during the G.W. Bush administration
References
External links
*Full text of earlier faile
Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2004(S. 2681)
*Full text of earlier faile
Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2005(S. 333)
US aid to Central Asia: "The rhetoric and the numbers are at odds with one another"
Acts of the 109th United States Congress
2006 in international relations
United States foreign relations legislation
United States federal defense and national security legislation
Iran–United States relations
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