Continued Opposition of Friday Prayer Leaders to FATF Bills; Alimohammadi: Leadership is Everything for the Nation

The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad opposed the bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), emphasizing that the government and 290 members of parliament "do not represent the entire nation," and stated that in the Islamic Republic system, "the leadership is everything." Several Friday prayer leaders, including those from Ilam and Karaj, reiterated their opposition to the approval of the FATF-related bills in the Expediency Council during their sermons on March 1. Meanwhile, according to ISNA news agency, Ahmad Alimohammadi, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, reacted to Hassan Rouhani's comments about these bills, saying: "We need to use our intellect a bit. Do they think that the people have no brains to say these things?" Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, had stated on Tuesday regarding these bills: "We cannot hand over the country to 10-20 people and say we will follow whatever decision they make. The owner of this country is the great nation; certainly, the nation and the Central Bank and our banks will speak up." In response, Alimohammadi said: "They say that these 20-30 people in the Expediency Council are not the nation. Yes, those 20-30 people are not the nation, 200 members of parliament are not the nation, and 20-30 people in the cabinet are also not the nation. Who is the nation?" He added: "The meaning of the nation is the leadership; the leadership is the nation because the nation showed this on February 11." Iranian officials often refer to state-sponsored rallies to demonstrate the legitimacy of the government. However, the government has never put fundamental issues to a public vote in the past 40 years, and discussing referendums in the Islamic Republic is generally considered taboo. Since the constitutional revision referendum about 30 years ago, no referendums have been held in Iran. Alimohammadi stressed: "The leadership is everything for the nation, and the members of the Expediency Council were also appointed by the leadership and told to examine these issues." The conflict between supporters and opponents of the bills for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism and the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime has become a hot topic in the political arena of the Islamic Republic in recent months. Despite the Supreme Leader's previous opposition in a public session on October 7, a letter from him was read stating, "I have no objection to examining these bills in parliament." Last week, Hassan Rouhani stated: "The leadership has told me several times that I have no objection to these bills." However, Gholamali Haddad Adel, another member of the Expediency Council, contradicted Rouhani, stating that Ayatollah Khamenei "did not endorse the supporters' arguments for Palermo." Government officials have repeatedly emphasized that if Iran's relationship with FATF is severed, banking activities with the world will face problems. Meanwhile, Abdolnaser Hemmati, the head of the Central Bank, emphasized on Friday that the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force are part of international banking standards. Government officials also hope that by approving these bills and implementing the European financial mechanism, the impact of U.S. sanctions will be reduced. The U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA and the re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran have led to the devaluation of the national currency and the bankruptcy of many Iranian industries in recent months, causing shortages of essential items like baby diapers. Additionally, with the recent increase in the prices of red meat and chicken, reports have emerged about long queues for purchasing subsidized meat, along with incidents of clashes in some of these queues. Meanwhile, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, stated: "Improving the livelihood of the people and a jihadist determination to combat rampant inflation is one of our urgent necessities today. They think this revolution has determined the fate of meat like this." Over the past year, there have been numerous protests across Iran in response to the rising prices of essential goods, which have faced police crackdowns.