Iran Banned from Collaborating with Other Countries to Combat Money Laundering

The Islamic Consultative Assembly removed the section related to international cooperation and information exchange with other countries in the field of combating money laundering from the bill to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law. On Tuesday (September 24), members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly deleted and amended sections of the bill that had been rejected by the Guardian Council. Among the deleted sections was Section 5, which referred to international cooperation and the exchange of experiences and information with similar organizations in other countries regarding the fight against money laundering within the framework of Article 12 of this law. If the Islamic Republic does not join the regulations related to money laundering, Iran's international banking transactions will face difficulties; the deadline for deciding on Iran's accession to these regulations ends in less than a week. Previously, several Iranian media reported that the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran declared the bill to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law, one of four bills related to the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations, incompatible with 'the general policies of resilient economy, encouraging investment, food security, and economic security.' However, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, tweeted that the Expediency Discernment Council did not 'reject' this bill, and some are trying to imply its rejection with the aim of 'inflaming the currency market.' The IRNA news agency also quoted a member of the Expediency Discernment Council stating that the opinion of the Council's supervisory board regarding the bills on combating money laundering and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (known as Palermo) sent by the Assembly to the Council did not mean their rejection, and there is a possibility of these bills being approved in the Council. Ahmad Tavakoli stated: 'When the supervisory board says something is incompatible with general policies, it does not mean the rejection of the proposal. The opposing opinion of the supervisory board is not a rejection of the entire proposal but rather a statement of general conflicts.' He added that similar occurrences have happened before, where constructive interaction between the Council and the Assembly and adjustments made resolved the issue. His remarks come after it was announced on Tuesday that with the approval of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the bills for Iran's accession to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the fight against money laundering have been sent to the Expediency Discernment Council for review. The four bills of Hassan Rouhani's government to exit the FATF blacklist have been under review in the Assembly, Guardian Council, and Expediency Discernment Council for several months. Following the recommendation of the FATF, Hassan Rouhani's government sent the bill to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law to the Assembly on November 8, 2017, and after much debate, the Assembly approved it in May of this year and referred it to the Guardian Council for opinion. The Guardian Council identified this bill as incompatible with four provisions of Sharia and the Constitution and returned it to the Assembly for amendment. Hassan Rouhani had previously requested 'assistance' from the Guardian Council in reviewing the four bills related to the implementation of FATF regulations in a letter. Opponents of Iran's accession to FATF regulations, who are mainly opponents of Hassan Rouhani's government, argue that this would block the way for financial assistance to 'Hamas' and 'Hezbollah.' Proponents of Iran's accession to this treaty argue that its opponents fear economic transparency and preventing banking corruption. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the Assembly, reported in mid-September that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had agreed to the approval of the anti-money laundering bills. He wrote on his Twitter page without further explanation: 'I heard from reliable sources that the leadership has expressed their agreement with the anti-money laundering bills.'