Guardian Council Rejects Two Bills Related to Financial Action Task Force

The spokesperson for the Guardian Council announced that the council has rejected two bills related to the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations. The bills include Iran's accession to the Palermo Convention on combating organized crime and the amendment of the anti-money laundering law. According to IRNA news agency, Abbasali Kadkhodai stated on Saturday, July 13, that the Guardian Council has rejected the parliament's approval of the bill to join the Palermo Convention for the second time. The council had previously stated that there were issues with the translation of this convention included in the bill. Kadkhodai mentioned that after the parliament's amendments to this bill, the Guardian Council raised objections to two of its articles again. The spokesperson also reported that the council believes the anti-money laundering bill approved by the parliament is a 'judicial' bill and should be presented by the judiciary. Kadkhodai noted that the council has raised other issues with this bill as well. According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, parliament representatives must address the Guardian Council's objections to these approvals and resubmit the bills for further review. Parliament representatives can also send these bills to the Expediency Discernment Council without addressing the objections raised by the Guardian Council for the council to decide on them. In addition to these two bills, two bills amending the law on combating the financing of terrorism and Iran's accession to the Convention on combating the financing of terrorism are related to the implementation of FATF regulations. The bill for the Islamic Republic's accession to the Convention on combating the financing of terrorism faced objections from close associates of the Supreme Leader, leading the Iranian parliament on Sunday, June 9, to vote for a two-month suspension of this bill. Subsequently, the Supreme Leader called for the removal of this bill and asked the Iranian parliament to independently legislate its laws regarding money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Nevertheless, Mohammad Ali Vakili, a member of the parliament's presiding board, reported that Hassan Rouhani and Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, are scheduled to meet with Mr. Khamenei regarding this matter. On Friday, July 14, the Mizan news agency reported that the President of Iran, in a letter to the Guardian Council, requested 'assistance' in reviewing four bills related to the implementation of FATF regulations. However, Kadkhodai responded to this news agency's question by stating that the Guardian Council does not engage in 'expediency' in reviewing these bills. The Expediency Discernment Council of Iran also announced on Saturday, July 1, that some clauses of the bill for Iran's accession to the Palermo Convention are incompatible with 'resistant economy.' Iran has been on the FATF blacklist since 2009, but in the last two years, the group has emphasized keeping Iran on its blacklist while suspending some restrictions against Iran. The group announced on Friday, July 8, that Iran has until autumn this year to make reforms that comply with global norms and rules in this area; otherwise, it will have to accept the consequences, including the withdrawal of investors from investing in this country. Previously, several parliament representatives, including Alireza Beigi, quoted Abbas Araqchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, stating that although the implementation of FATF regulations does not have a direct connection to the JCPOA, European 'assistance' in new negotiations with Iran depends on the implementation of these regulations. Opponents of the implementation of FATF regulations, including Javad Karimi Qodosi, a representative from Mashhad, believe that implementing these regulations would complicate Iran's financial support for groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and armed Palestinian groups. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected this claim. Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups supported by the Islamic Republic are all listed as terrorist organizations by the United States.