Jan 11 (AFP -NT) - The Iranian parliament has approved a 16-million-dollar budget to be used to foil US undercover activities against Iran, an MP said Thursday. Hassan Ghashghavi, a deputy from southern Tehran, said the assembly's budget subcommittee had earmarked 25 billion rials for "uncovering and defusing US plots" against the Islamic republic. The fund would be granted to the National Security Council, Iran's highest political and military decision-making body, to be used to "thwart the United States' anti-Iran operations," he said. "It is our right to allocate a major budget to defend our territory and pride," Ghashghavi said. The move, proposed last week by Iran's parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nategh Nuri, came in response to a 20-million-dollar budget approved by the US House of Representatives last month for covert action against Iran. The program, aimed at moderating the Islamic republic, has been approved by the White House. "This is an illegal move which will spark negative reaction from the international community," Ghashghavi said of the US program. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said last week that his country would sue the United States in international tribunals over its move. He also called on the United Nations to take action. AFP /AA1234/110916 GMT JAN 96

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