https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-parliament-debate-money-laundering-fatf/29238782.html
Iran’s
Parliament (Majles) has discussed four regulatory bills at a closed-door
session also attended by “a few senior security and executive officials” on
Sunday May 20.
MPs
have disclosed that the discussions at the session evolved around international
requirements against money laundering demanded from Iran, and that there have
also been negotiations in this regard with the office of Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The
Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a G-7 initiative to combat money laundering
and financing terrorism has placed Iran beside North Korea at the top of the
list of countries with the highest economic and financial risks.
Media
reports have said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Supreme National
Security Council Chief Ali Shamkhani, Abbas Araqchi the Foreign Ministry
official in charge of the JCPOA and Economy Minister Massoud Karbasian were
among the officials taking part in the Sunday meeting.
Hardliners
close to Khamenei’s office have criticized the four bills presented to the
parliament by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration, fearing that passing
these bills would pave the way for Tehran to join the FATF and make financial
assistance to terrorist groups in the Middle East difficult.
The
four bills include measures to join the convention against organized crime, to
amend “the anti-money laundering law,” to accept the convention against
financial support for terrorism” and a “bill to amend the law against financial
support for terrorism.”
Iranian
Parliament’s news agency ICANA has quoted Shamkhani, as saying that “the four
bills have nothing to do with FATF.”
However,
Majles Presidium Spokesman Behrouz Nemati has said that “The bills may somehow
be related to FATF.”
During
recent months Iranian economic analysts living abroad have charged that Iran’s
hardliners oppose joining the FATF because it will make money laundering hard
for financial institutions linked to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC).
Tehran
MP Ali Motahari has told reporters in Tehran that there have been “long and
seriously confrontational” debates during Sunday’s Majles session.
Motahari
quoted Shamkhani as saying that there were problems about the bill, but they
were solved thanks to cooperation between the Majles Research Center, the
Supreme National Security Council and Khamenei’s office.
The
Rouhani administration says the bills are aimed at introducing “transparency
and discipline into banking operations” and bringing about “compliance with
international banking regulations.”
Rouhani’s
opponents including members of the ultraconservative Paydari Party oppose the
bills and insist that passing those bills is tantamount to accepting the terms
of FATF.
Iran’s
hardliners believe that the FATF would prevent Iran from sending money to Hamas
and the Lebanese Hezballah.
Hamas
is listed as a terrorist group in Canada, US, and Israel and the EU recognizes
its military wing as a terrorist group.
The
Lebanese Hezballah is also listed as a terrorist group by US, Holland, the Arab
League and Israel, while the EU recognizes its military wing as a terrorist
group.
Both
groups have repeatedly confirmed receiving money and military equipment from
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In
March 2018, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called on Iranian banks to comply
with international regulations in order to evade being blacklisted.
In
an apparent reference to the requirements of FATF and UNTOC, he advised the banks
that “abiding by these regulations, you can distance yourself from the black
list.”
Rouhani
was referring to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) black list and
regulations recommended by the UN Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (UNTOC).