Chairman of the National Security Commission: The Enemy is Lurking to Prevent Iran's Accession to FATF

On Thursday, January 10, the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly warned about the consequences of Iran not joining the FATF (Financial Action Task Force). According to ISNA, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh pointed out the 'issues that have arisen in the approval of the FATF plan and that we have no security restrictions for de-escalation in the Islamic Republic,' stating: 'Our goal is de-escalation because a country whose economy ranks 18th in the world cannot fight with the world.' The Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission emphasized in Shahrekord: 'In times when the enemy is lurking for us, we must be careful not to fall into the enemy's trap, and currently, not joining the FATF is the enemy's trap for the country.' The FATF is an international organization that sets standards and regulations for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. This international body provides recommendations to member countries to enhance the transparency of their banking and financial systems and to prevent and combat money laundering. Until two years ago, Iran was on the FATF blacklist alongside North Korea, but after Iran and six world powers reached a nuclear agreement, the JCPOA, in 2015, and with Tehran's acceptance of commitments, the special measures of this group against Iran were temporarily suspended. This international body extended Iran's deadline for implementing reforms and suspension from the blacklist for another four months in October of this year. Previously, some members of parliament referred to the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism as the 'most important' step to meet the expectations of the FATF from Iran, with Behrouz Nemati, spokesman for the parliamentary board, stating that 'solving many of the country's current problems depends on solving the CFT.' Opponents of Iran's accession to the FATF regulations, primarily from the opponents of President Hassan Rouhani's government, argue that this would block financial assistance to 'Hamas' and 'Hezbollah.' However, supporters of joining this treaty argue that opponents fear economic transparency and the prevention of banking corruption. The Rouhani government presented four bills to the parliament to remove Iran from the FATF blacklist, which it is committed to approving and implementing, aiming to reduce pressure on Iran's financial transactions with other countries. Of these four bills, two related to amending the anti-money laundering law and Iran's accession to the Palermo Convention (the convention against transnational organized crime) were to be determined by the Expediency Discernment Council, which is still awaiting the council's opinion. The amendment to the anti-money laundering law was approved on January 5 by the Expediency Discernment Council. At the same time, the spokesman for the Guardian Council stated that the council's objections to the CFT bill remain in effect except for two cases. In this context, two FATF-related bills 'will be determined within a month.' The Guardian Council again rejected Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism. The amendment to the anti-money laundering law was approved by the council; the CFT is at the Guardian Council stage.