Iran's Bill to Join the Convention on Countering the Financing of Terrorism to be Reviewed in Parliament on Sunday

The Islamic Consultative Assembly will review the bill "Joining Iran to the Convention on Countering the Financing of Terrorism" on Sunday, October 15. According to the weekly agenda of the Assembly, the first item on the agenda for the open session tomorrow is the review of the bill for Iran's accession to the international convention known as "CFT." Ali Asghar Yousefnejad, a member of the Assembly's board, confirmed in an interview with Mehr News Agency that the review of this bill will begin with the Assembly's session in the open chamber. However, Mohammad Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Tasnim News Agency that a "special session with experts from the three branches" will be held tomorrow after 2 PM. The CFT bill is one of four bills whose approval and implementation would prevent Iran from being placed on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The review and approval of these bills have faced widespread protests from conservatives in Iran in recent months, and the Assembly voted in June to temporarily shelve this bill. On the eve of the renewed review of this bill in the Assembly, the official website of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic published previous statements opposing the approval of these bills, depicting the FATF convention as a sewage pit. On Friday, October 13, a number of Friday prayer worshippers, holding placards and signing petitions, called for the rejection of this bill in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, a member of the Expediency Council and interim Friday prayer leader in Tehran, expressed hope on Friday that this bill would not receive a favorable vote in the Assembly. He predicted that even if the representatives of the Assembly vote positively on this bill, the Guardian Council would reject it. Mohammadi Kermani stated that the Expediency Council is "alert" regarding the FATF and emphasized that it will oppose this bill under any circumstances. The interim Friday prayer leader in Tehran explained his reasons for opposing the approval of these bills and Iran's accession to the FATF convention, saying: "This treaty would prevent us from helping Hezbollah, Ansarullah, and similar groups, and it would also lead to dangerous issues." Opponents of the bill in the Assembly had previously threatened to leave the Assembly in a coordinated manner during the discussion of this bill, which is known as obstructionism, to prevent the review and approval of this bill. In contrast, supporters of Iran's accession to this treaty and efforts to remove Iran from the blacklist believe that this convention would lead to greater transparency and reduced corruption, and they argue that even if the European Union is determined to find a way to continue financial and banking transactions with Iran, nothing can be done in the face of this obstacle. Proponents of Iran's accession to this treaty believe that Syria and Lebanon are among the countries that have joined the FATF, and they consider the concerns of opponents in this area to be unrealistic. The currency market in Iran, which has faced severe price fluctuations and unprecedented jumps in recent months, is very sensitive to news related to this bill and Iran's accession to the Convention on Countering the Financing of Terrorism. The four bills that the government of Hassan Rouhani has apparently submitted to the Assembly to exit the FATF blacklist include the bill for Iran's accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo), amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, amendments to the Countering the Financing of Terrorism Law, and Iran's accession to the Convention on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), among which the fate of the last bill is still uncertain.