Guardian Council Spokesman: Contents of Hassan Rouhani's Letter to Jannati are Confidential

Abbasali Kadkhodai, spokesman for the Guardian Council, described the contents of a letter from Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, to Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, regarding the approval of four anti-money laundering bills as "confidential." In an interview with Tasnim news agency on Tuesday, Kadkhodai responded to a question about Rouhani's letter to Jannati, stating that he could not comment on the "disputes and competencies of the Supreme Economic Coordination Council" because he did not have accurate information about the letter and could not confirm whether "there was a letter or not." Last week, some media reported that a confidential letter from Hassan Rouhani to Ahmad Jannati mentioned the necessity of approving the four anti-money laundering bills, referring to the resolutions of the second meeting of the "Supreme Economic Coordination Council." Kadkhodai emphasized in his interview with Tasnim: "The contents of the letter have been declared confidential, and we will remain silent." The text of a letter published by some media emphasized that the resolutions of the Supreme Economic Coordination Council held on June 19 had been "approved" by the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the letter attributed to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, a request was made to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to "arrange for the Guardian Council to urgently announce the non-contradiction of the three bills approved by the parliament, and to cooperate in creating a positive atmosphere and resolving unrealistic doubts regarding the fourth bill, which has been postponed in parliament for two months." The Supreme Economic Coordination Council was established on May 22, at the suggestion of the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in response to the policies of the U.S. Treasury Department, to combat what Ayatollah Khamenei described as "the economic malice of the United States" and to organize economic issues. Rouhani's government sent four bills to the Islamic Consultative Assembly to avoid being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist against money laundering, of which the parliament approved three and sent them to the Guardian Council. The fourth bill, which involves Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, faced significant opposition from conservatives and Friday prayer leaders, leading to its review being stalled in the Islamic Consultative Assembly for two months. Ayatollah Khamenei had requested the removal of the bill on combating the financing of terrorism during a meeting with parliament representatives on June 30. In opposition to joining the "Financial Action Task Force," Khamenei told parliament representatives: "There is no need for us to accept things that we do not know what the consequences are or even know that there are problems, just because of the positive aspects." However, some parliament representatives reported on efforts by Rouhani and Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to facilitate the approval of these four bills. Some parliament representatives, such as Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadighi, emphasized in their comments that the Leader's opposition does not mean a determination for parliament representatives. Three days ago, Abbasali Kadkhodai stated in an interview with IRNA that the bill for Iran's accession to the Palermo Convention on Organized Crime and the bill for amending the Anti-Money Laundering Law have been rejected by the Guardian Council. Kadkhodai clarified on Tuesday, July 16, in an interview with Tasnim that the objections of the Guardian Council to the Palermo bill are "not fundamental" and "will probably be resolved in a back-and-forth between the parliament and the Guardian Council." Meanwhile, the Expediency Discernment Council has also raised two objections to the Palermo bill, one being "incompatibility with resistance economy policies" and the other being "incompatibility with general and macro security policies," which must be taken into account in the parliament. Fars News Agency published a letter from Mahmoud Shahroudi, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, addressed to Ahmad Jannati, in which five objections to Iran's accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, or the Palermo Convention, were raised. According to Abbasali Kadkhodai, the objection of the Guardian Council to the amendment of the Anti-Money Laundering Law was "formal," and the Guardian Council did not even enter into the substantive review of this bill. The members of the Guardian Council believe that this bill has a judicial nature and should go through the head of the judiciary to the government and then be referred from the government to the Guardian Council. The uncertainty surrounding the four government bills comes as the Financial Action Task Force, which combats money laundering globally, announced in the first week of July that Iran has until next autumn to make reforms that comply with international norms and rules in this area, or face the consequences. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in 1989 and monitors international standards against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In July 2016, due to Iran's commitment to implementing these measures and taking necessary steps, it decided to keep Iran on the blacklist while suspending punitive measures against Iran. One of the reasons opponents of joining the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism in Iran cite is the blockage of financial assistance to "Hamas" and "Hezbollah," two groups that the U.S. and several other countries consider "terrorist."