Rejection of the 'Anti-Money Laundering Law Amendment' Bill by the Guardian Council

Abbasali Kadkhodai, spokesman for the Guardian Council, announced on Friday, August 25, that the amendment bill for combating money laundering has been returned to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. According to ISNA, Kadkhodai stated that the council identified the bill as being contrary to four principles of Islamic law and the Constitution. This bill is one of four bills that the Iranian government has proposed to prevent Iran from being placed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist. The President of Iran announced the new law for combating the financing of terrorism, one of the laws related to the implementation of FATF regulations, on August 20. However, three related bills have not been approved due to opposition from the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council. The anti-money laundering bill was approved by the parliament and confirmed by the Guardian Council in 2007. Following recommendations from the FATF, President Hassan Rouhani's government sent the amendment bill for combating money laundering to the parliament on November 17, 2017, and after much debate, it was approved in May of this year and referred to the Guardian Council for review. The Guardian Council recognized the bill as contrary to four principles of Islamic law and the Constitution and returned it to the parliament for amendments. On July 13, the news agency Mizan reported that the Iranian President had requested 'assistance' from the Guardian Council in reviewing four bills related to the implementation of FATF regulations. However, Kadkhodai responded to this news agency's question by stating that the Guardian Council does not engage in 'expediency' in reviewing these bills. The Expediency Discernment Council of Iran also announced on July 9 that some provisions of the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention against Organized Crime are inconsistent with 'resilient economy.' Following conservative objections to the bills related to money laundering and Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic implicitly called for the abandonment of these bills on June 20. The Supreme Leader also requested that the parliament independently establish its own laws regarding money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Opponents of Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism argue that this would block the way for financial assistance to 'Hamas' and 'Hezbollah.' Supporters of Iran's accession to this treaty argue that opponents fear economic transparency and the prevention of banking corruption.