Economy Minister Says Khamenei Has Agreed to Reconsider FATF Bills

The Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance states that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has 'agreed' to reconsider the bills related to the FATF case in the Expediency Council. As the second term of Donald Trump, the elected President of the United States, approaches, the exchange rate in Iran is experiencing an unprecedented surge, and inflation expectations are rising. Abdolnaser Hemmati, in a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), quoted Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, stating that Khamenei has agreed to reintroduce the 'Palermo and CFT' bills in the Expediency Council. On Tuesday, January 1, Pezeshkian, in a meeting with members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, reported a 'decision made' to reconsider the FATF bill in the Expediency Council without mentioning the leader's approval. He noted that 'solving the country's problems is not solely the government's responsibility' and added that the heads of the legislative and judicial branches are working to 'remove existing obstacles.' The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization that provides recommendations in the form of international standards to combat 'money laundering and terrorist financing.' Many governments, financial institutions, and banks voluntarily implement these recommendations, and currently, only Iran and North Korea are on this organization's blacklist. After the two bills known as 'Palermo and CFT' were approved by representatives in the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Guardian Council did not approve them, and since then, these two bills have remained in the Expediency Council. Some social media users have described Hemmati's tweet as 'news therapy' and 'a government trick to prevent the dollar rate from rising' amid the economic crisis in Iran. Others humorously noted that every time the dollar rises, the government tries to control the excitement by using news of the release of Iran's blocked currencies and Khamenei's agreement to reconsider the FATF. The banking group in the Iranian stock market is also being traded 'highly demanded' following Hemmati's post. This is not the first time that government officials have reported the Supreme Leader's agreement to reconsider the FATF. Laya Janidi, the then-legal deputy of the President of Iran, stated on December 15, 2020, that the Supreme Leader agreed to the Rouhani government's request to extend the deadline for reviewing the FATF bills in the Expediency Council. Some members of this council describe the recommendations for combating money laundering as 'a tool of influence' or 'against the interests of the regime.' For instance, Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghadam, a member of the council, considers the approval of this bill as an obstacle to circumventing sanctions. Mohsen Rezaei, another member of the council, has labeled the approval of this bill as 'interference by a foreign group in Iran's internal affairs.' Opponents of the approval of these bills in Iran argue that if they are approved, Iran's financial support to militia groups associated with Iran, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, will face difficulties. However, the economic conditions in Iran, the re-initiation of Donald Trump's presidency, and the serious damage to the Islamic Republic's proxy groups in the region have imposed new conditions on Iran and its officials. The Pezeshkian government claims to have written a letter to the Expediency Council regarding the FATF case. These two bills have become a subject of a long-standing dispute in the Islamic Republic after being approved in the parliament. Although it seemed that the approval of the FATF bill had been removed from the agenda after the failure of the JCPOA revival negotiations during Ebrahim Raisi's government, the current President of Iran states that in the current difficult conditions, there is no choice but to accept the recommendations for combating money laundering. Pezeshkian stated in his first press conference that there is no solution to lifting sanctions other than resolving the FATF issue, and he will write a letter to the Expediency Council to discuss the final fate of joining this organization; a letter that was immediately denied by Mostafa Mir-Salim, a member of the Expediency Council. Although some members of the Expediency Council are considered supporters of the approval of the bills, the opponents are in greater numbers. Many of the opponents of the bills are hardliners and supporters of Ali Khamenei, although the Supreme Leader has not publicly opposed the approval of this bill, it is said that his will is the most important factor in this decision-making. On October 7, 2018, on the day the two bills were approved in parliament, Khamenei responded to Ali Larijani's inquiry about the bills by stating that he had 'no objection to reviewing these bills in parliament.' The Financial Action Task Force voted again on July 8 to keep the Islamic Republic of Iran on its 'blacklist for money laundering.' This organization has warned that as long as the Islamic Republic of Iran does not address the existing shortcomings, it will remain on the blacklist.