Iran Remains on FATF Blacklist; Vahidi Accuses the West of Drug Money Laundering

Following the confirmation of the Islamic Republic of Iran's name on the FATF blacklist, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic criticized the 'global trend' and called Iran 'the first country in the fight against drugs,' claiming that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has no report on combating money laundering. Ahmad Vahidi, speaking on the occasion of World Drug Day on June 25, referred to Western countries as 'claimants of the fight' against drugs and asserted that these countries do not undertake 'great work' to 'target the financial interests of international traffickers.' He stated that 'drugs are being exploited as a political phenomenon globally' and accused Western banks of 'money laundering' with 'drug money.' This senior official's attack on the FATF comes two days after Iran was retained on the FATF blacklist. The FATF is an intergovernmental organization based in Paris and one of the monitoring bodies for financial transactions of the Islamic Republic after the signing of the JCPOA. The FATF is responsible for overseeing financial transparency in international banking transactions, preventing money laundering, and combating the financing of terrorism. The Minister of Interior also announced that 'huge costs' for border control are borne by the Islamic Republic, accusing Western countries of not fulfilling their duty to prevent the trafficking of various psychoactive and hallucinogenic substances. Vahidi claimed that 'today Iran is the first country in the fight against drugs.' This claim comes despite reports of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' involvement in the distribution and transit of drugs. Previously, in response to border disputes between Iran and Afghanistan, Fariborz Karami Zand, a former police force member and critic of the Islamic Republic, described the Taliban as a 'pressure lever or playing card' for the Islamic Republic 'against regional countries,' which 'does not want to easily lose it,' stating that 'the role of drug cartels, with one side being the IRGC, should not be overlooked.' Additionally, Parastoo Fatehmi, a human rights researcher, previously told Voice of America that drugs have become a lever for the Islamic Republic to extort from Western countries under this pretext, but there is evidence that the Islamic Republic has not even been able to manage the drug problem in Iran. She also emphasized that the IRGC has a 'very special role' in the distribution and transit of drugs. According to Parastoo Fatehmi, the Islamic Republic commits acts of violence under the guise of fighting drugs, executing several hundred people annually, while other countries remain silent, and Islamic Republic officials, while gaining entry to international forums, can receive larger budgets under the title of fighting drugs. According to Amnesty International, the number of drug-related executions by the Islamic Republic this year has tripled compared to last year. This international organization, deeming the high execution statistics 'shameful,' reported that at least 173 people have been executed in Iran for drug-related crimes since the beginning of the year, most of whom have not had access to a fair trial. Raha Bahreini, a lawyer and researcher on Iranian affairs at Amnesty International, stated on June 1 regarding these executions that the Islamic Republic has many people on death row and that global pressure to stop this trend must increase.