A Study and Comparison of the Military Budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran with Selected Countries of the World

The military budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran is formed in proportion to the threats, therefore it must be seriously studied and planned. One of the optimal planning strategies in the budgeting process of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to compare its military budget with that of other countries. Thus, this study with the aims of a comparative study seeks to compare the military budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran with those of some countries (USA, Russia, France, England and China). Therefore, the main aim of this study is to identify the important and key factors and components affecting the military budget of selected countries in comparison with the military budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This research is a descriptive (case-contextual) applied study using a mixed-method approach, and a survey method. The method of data collection in this research was field and library and the instruments for data collection included documents and especially receiving specialized opinions of the expert community from the questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods have also been used to analyze the data. The results show that the most important constituents of the military budget in the Islamic Republic of Iran are personnel costs, costs of operations, procurement and acquisition, costs related to military structures, costs of research development, testing and evaluation. In this regard, their ranking and prioritization was done using Friedman test and the results show that costs of staff have been regarded as the first priority in the military budget. According to the results in order to determine the military budget of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the horizon of 1404, researchers have introduced these components and ways to provide and receive them to be available to all officials and researchers of relevant organizations.