Motahari and Sadeghi Respond to Alimohammadi's Warning to Representatives

Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadeghi, two representatives from Tehran, responded to the harsh remarks made by Ahmad Alimohammadi regarding the approval of four bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in the parliament. The Imam of Mashhad warned representatives not to fall into the category of 'country-sellers' while recalling the assassination of Hassan Ali Mansour, a former prime minister. Continuing the opposition to the approval of the four bills aimed at combating money laundering and financing terrorism, Ahmad Alimohammadi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Khorasan Razavi, compared the assassination of Hassan Ali Mansour to the current conditions during his Friday sermon on Eid al-Fitr. He stated: 'They [Motalefeh] thwarted an American-British sinister plan that could have taken the existence of Iran and dominated our destiny.' Alimohammadi emphasized to the representatives: 'You who are in the Islamic Consultative Assembly should be careful that your names do not end up among the country-sellers in history, and do not let it be said that by approving the FATF, you were also among the country-sellers, and by approving the anti-money laundering bill, you allowed the enemy's foreign convention to dominate the banking transactions of this country. Be careful not to be added to that list... This government is different from the Qajar and Pahlavi governments.' Hassan Ali Mansour was assassinated in February 1962 by the Motalefeh Islamic group in front of the National Consultative Assembly. During his premiership, the 'Law allowing American military advisors in Iran to enjoy the immunities and exemptions of the Vienna Convention' was passed, which Ayatollah Khomeini strongly opposed. In response to Alimohammadi's remarks, Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, called him 'ignorant' on his Instagram on Sunday, June 17, stating: 'If the representatives of parliament were to consider Mr. Alimohammadi's judgments as the basis for their decisions, today there would be no trace of the Islamic Republic, and we would have handed over the Islamic Revolution to America and Israel on a silver platter....' The Deputy Speaker of Parliament also referred to the threatening text messages sent to representatives in recent days regarding the four bills, adding: 'Mr. Alimohammadi's statement might help uncover the source of some of the threatening messages sent from Mashhad to representatives during the discussion of the FATF-related bill.' Last week, Ali Motahari mentioned that most of the messages sent to representatives were from Mashhad. He also suggested that those involved in the burning of the Saudi consulate might be sending these messages. On the other hand, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a Tehran representative, also reacted to Alimohammadi's remarks by writing: 'Who should be held accountable for the damaging behaviors of those who prevent transparency in banking transactions?!' This member of parliament emphasized that 'one of the habitats of the seven-headed dragon of corruption is the non-transparent banking network. Many of them are from Khorasan.' It seems that Sadeghi was referring to financial institutions that collect people's savings with promises of high returns alongside banks. In December of last year, the bankruptcy of these institutions led to protest gatherings in Mashhad, which were also supported by the principlists of this city. These gatherings eventually spread across the country. Meanwhile, the Astan Quds Razavi, which is overseen by Ebrahim Raisi, the son-in-law of Ahmad Alimohammadi, is not under the supervision of any organization by the parliament and government. Astan Quds also does not pay taxes to the government for its extensive economic activities. The government of Hassan Rouhani is pursuing four bills to 'join the convention against organized crime', 'join the convention against the financing of terrorism', 'amend the anti-money laundering law', and 'amend the law against the financing of terrorism' to prevent Iran from being placed on the FATF blacklist. The Financial Action Task Force was established in 1989 and monitors international standards against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. On Sunday, June 9, the parliament voted to keep the bill for Iran's accession to the convention against the financing of terrorism silent for two months. The request to keep this bill silent was approved with 138 votes in favor, 103 against, and six abstentions.