The Iran Freedom Support Act (, 120 Stat. 1344, , enacted September 30, 2006) is an Act of Congress 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 of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

to spend that money in support of "pro-democracy groups" opposed to the

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. 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 who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

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."

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 {{US-fed-statute-stub