Opposition of Friday Prayer Leaders and Expediency Council Officials to FATF-Related Bills

Simultaneously with the opposition of several Friday prayer leaders to the parliament's approval regarding Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, an official from the Expediency Council announced that the parliament's conditions regarding the Palermo bill were only added to appease the opponents. Ali Ahmadi, deputy secretary of the Expediency Council, stated in a television program that the FATF statutes have not been approved in Iran and that the Iranian government intends to join only some conventions or, instead, pass domestic laws. To avoid being placed on the FATF blacklist, Iran must implement the four demands of this working group. Therefore, President Hassan Rouhani's government has sent four bills to parliament, the latest of which, known as the 'Bill for Accession to the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)', was approved by parliament last week and must be confirmed by the Guardian Council. Of the other three bills, including the 'Bill to Amend the Anti-Terrorism Financing Law', the 'Bill to Amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law', and the 'Palermo Bill', only the first one has been approved by the Guardian Council, and the status of the others remains unclear. According to ISNA news agency, Mr. Ahmadi stated that the Supreme Supervisory Board of the Expediency Council has introduced two representatives to parliamentary committees for the review of each of the bills, and the Guardian Council will express its opinion based on the Supreme Supervisory Board's views. The 'Supreme Supervisory Board for the Implementation of General Policies of the System', which began its work last year following a directive from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in the Expediency Council, stated about three months ago that some provisions of the 'Palermo Bill' were contrary to 'resilient economy', and last month also declared the 'Bill to Amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law' contrary to 'general policies of resilient economy'. Despite Ayatollah Khamenei's previous opposition, it was announced in a public session of parliament on Sunday that he has no objection to the approval of this bill. According to a letter sent from the office of the Supreme Leader to parliament, Ayatollah Khamenei stated: 'What I said in the meeting with the representatives regarding the four bills and conventions was related to the principle of the conventions and not a specific convention; therefore, I have no objection to the review of these bills in parliament.' However, some appointees of Ayatollah Khamenei have called for the Guardian Council to reject the parliament's approval, and several Friday prayer leaders emphasized this demand in their sermons on October 20. Among them, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, stated that with the approval of this bill, the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards would be 'eliminated' from financial transactions in Iran. Abdul Karim Abedini, the Friday prayer leader of Qazvin, said that the proponents of this bill would be 'humiliated and disgraced', and Mohsen Heydari, the Friday prayer leader of Ahvaz, referred to this bill as one of the 'colonial bills' aimed at 'putting pressure on third-world countries and information dominance'. Mehdi Qureshi, the Friday prayer leader of Urmia, also said: 'Some provisions of international treaties may be good, but there is no necessity to join conventions based on these provisions.' Opponents of Iran's accession to FATF regulations, who are mainly opponents of Hassan Rouhani's government, argue that this would block financial assistance to 'Hamas' and 'Hezbollah'. Proponents of joining this treaty argue that its opponents fear economic transparency and the prevention of banking corruption. Several members of parliament, including Parvaneh Salahshouri, a representative from Tehran, have announced that they have been 'threatened with death' for voting positively on this bill. The Governorate of Razavi Khorasan has also stated that the 'source of these text messages' is a former member of the Mashhad City Council with the alias 'K.M.', which Iranian media have identified as Khalil Mohammadi, a former member of the Mashhad City Council. Previously, several members of parliament, including Alireza Beigi, quoted Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, stating that although the implementation of FATF regulations is not directly related to the JCPOA, European 'assistance' in new negotiations with Iran depends on the implementation of these regulations.