Continued Conservative Protests Against 'Accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism'

In continuation of the conservatives' protests against the bills related to the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations, a group of seminarians gathered in front of Ali Larijani's office in Qom, and the conservative faction in the Parliament also called for a negative vote on the bill 'Accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism'. According to Tasnim News Agency, 'a group of seminarians' and other protesters against the FATF-related bills gathered on Saturday, June 9, in front of the office of Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament. Participants in this gathering labeled the 'FATF bill' as 'disgraceful' and referred to it as 'financial JCPOA'. Meanwhile, according to Fars News Agency, the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom held a meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament on Saturday evening regarding the FATF-related bills. Four controversial bills related to the implementation of FATF regulations have been raised in Parliament in recent weeks. The 'Amendment of the Anti-Money Laundering Law' and 'Amendment of the Anti-Terrorism Financing Law' are currently under review in the Iranian Parliament. The 'Bill to Join the Convention Against Organized Crime (Palermo)' has also been approved in Parliament, but the Guardian Council has returned it to Parliament for amendments. Among these, the bill 'Iran's Accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism', which conservatives are particularly sensitive about, has been conditionally approved by the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament and is set to be reviewed in an open session on Sunday. The Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism is one of the United Nations treaties, adopted in 1999, aimed at encouraging governments and international cooperation to cut off financial resources to groups described as terrorist. So far, 187 countries have joined this convention. Opponents of these bills in the Islamic Consultative Assembly are concerned about the difficulty of Iran's financial support for groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and armed Palestinian groups following the approval of these bills and the increasing pressures on the Islamic Republic due to its support for these groups. Meanwhile, the faction of Velayati Representatives, known as the faction of the Stability Front members in Parliament, issued a statement urging representatives to refrain from approving the bill 'Iran's Accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism'. The statement indicated that due to the 'dual definition' of terrorism, groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon are also labeled as terrorist organizations by Western countries. This faction expressed concern that the approval of this bill would lead to 'new legal tools in the hands of the enemies of the Islamic Republic', 'increasing sanctions against some of the country's governing institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps', and ultimately 'result in the re-submission of Iran's case to the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Security Council'. Hezbollah in Lebanon is recognized as a 'terrorist group' by the United States, the Netherlands, the Arab League, and Israel, while the European Union also considers its military wing as 'terrorist'. The Hamas group is also listed as a 'terrorist group' by the United States, Canada, and Israel, and the European Union regards its military wing as 'terrorist'. The government of Hassan Rouhani has stated that the approval of these bills will not limit the Islamic Republic's support for these groups. According to several members of Parliament, although these bills are not directly related to the JCPOA, their approval and the implementation of FATF regulations in Iran have been among the demands of European countries in new negotiations with Tehran. Iran has been on the FATF blacklist since 2009, but this group, which aims to 'combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism worldwide', has suspended some of its restrictions against Iran in the past two years. The FATF was established in 1989 and monitors international standards against money laundering, terrorism financing, and weapons of mass destruction. The opposition of some members of Parliament to the review of these bills comes as the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament recently reported that, according to the Basel Committee's assessment, Iran has the 'worst situation' in terms of 'money laundering and terrorism financing' along with 'a few other limited countries'. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which provides services to central banks, consists of committees, one of the most important being the Basel Committee, which provides a set of guidelines in the area of risk management for banks.