Khamenei Has Not Provided Opinion on Joining Palermo Convention

Gholamali Haddad Adel, a member of Iran's Expediency Council, stated on Thursday, March 9, that the Supreme Leader has not expressed an opinion regarding the Palermo bill and has delegated the decision to the Expediency Council. Haddad Adel also emphasized that Ayatollah Khamenei did not endorse the arguments of those in favor of Palermo. This contradicts statements made a few days earlier by President Hassan Rouhani. According to Fars News Agency, Haddad Adel added that Khamenei instructed the council to 'consider the objections raised and the points made with foresight.' Recently, as the approval of the Palermo bill was postponed by the Expediency Council, the prices of various currencies in the free market increased. The 'Palermo bill' is one of two bills related to money laundering that remains pending approval in the Expediency Council due to serious opposition from conservatives. Opponents of the bill, mainly from Rouhani's government critics, argue that it would block financial assistance to Hamas and Hezbollah and open avenues for espionage against the Islamic Republic. Proponents of the bill argue that opponents fear economic transparency and the prevention of banking corruption. Of the four bills presented by Rouhani's government to meet the demands of the international anti-money laundering body, two bills, 'Palermo' and 'CFT,' have yet to be approved. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which oversees financial transparency in banking transactions and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, has given Iran four opportunities to pass laws to elevate Tehran's anti-money laundering mechanisms to global standards and to exit its blacklist. Although the Palermo bill (on joining the convention against transnational organized crime) and the CFT (on combating terrorist financing) have been approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, they have faced obstacles from the Guardian Council, necessitating final decision-making by the Expediency Council. Rouhani's government emphasizes the need to pass these bills to exit the FATF blacklist. On December 19, the Iranian president stated that if these bills are not approved, financial transactions for Iran would become 20% more expensive, and he called for the costs of not passing these bills and the absence of the JCPOA to be communicated to the people. He insisted that if the people said they wanted a more expensive life, he would accept all these slogans. The Palermo Convention is a multilateral treaty supported by the United Nations, adopted on November 15, 2000, by a resolution of the UN General Assembly. The treaty was opened for signature by governments in Palermo, Italy, in December 2000 and was signed by 147 countries, including Iran, hence its name. The Palermo Convention includes three supplementary protocols, including the protocol for the prevention, suppression, and punishment of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea, and air, and the protocol against the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime acting as the custodian of this convention and its protocols. This week, Rouhani also emphasized to the country's banking managers that 'if our relationship with the FATF is severed, our banking activities will face problems globally,' stating, 'We must accept a bit of reason and wisdom for the world. All countries participate in a body and group.' He added, 'If all countries participate in a group and body, does that mean none of them have reason and wisdom? And if the government has submitted a bill, the parliament has approved it, and the Guardian Council has signed it, does that mean none of them have reason?' The Iranian president clarified, 'We cannot hand over the country to 10 or 20 people and say we will follow whatever decisions they make; that is not the case, and the owner of this country is the great Iranian nation, and certainly the people and the central bank and banks will also speak on this matter.' Rouhani emphasized, 'Decision-making in our country is either with the government, or with the parliament, or with the leadership, and the leader has told me several times that he has no objection to the four bills. The government and parliament also have no problem with it, so who is opposing it?' In response to the recent statements of the president, Gholamali Haddad Adel stated in an interview with Fars News Agency on Thursday, 'If the leader had accepted, we would have no objection, but he did not express an opinion and rather delegated it to the Expediency Council and said to consider the objections raised and the points made.' He emphasized that 'the leader did not endorse the arguments of those in favor of joining Palermo,' adding, 'It is generally the case that those who advocate joining speak in general terms and do not delve into the specific objections that opponents raise in detail... Those who support joining say if you do not do this, such and such will happen, but they do not say if you do it, such and such will happen more.' Haddad Adel added, 'In the council, there is concern that the experience of the JCPOA will not be repeated, and I have said that a person bitten by a snake is afraid of a black and white rope.' He further stated, 'The first phase of the JCPOA was implemented, but the other side did not fulfill its commitments, so what guarantee is there that we will fulfill our obligations and the other side will not repeat the same game? Considering that the head of the FATF was previously an assistant to the US Treasury Secretary, this means that the leadership of this process is currently in the hands of the US.' He posed the question, 'What guarantee is there that what the US did in the JCPOA will not be repeated now?' He added, 'What guarantee is there that after we take a step, the other side will fulfill its commitments and want to lead us one more step toward itself? These are the issues being raised in the council.' Several members of parliament, including Parvaneh Salahshouri, a representative from Tehran, had previously reported that they had been 'threatened with death' due to their positive vote on the bill for Iran's accession to the convention against terrorist financing.