Review of Iran's Accession Bill to CFT in Parliament, Protest by Opponents Outside the Building

As the Iranian Parliament reviews the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), opposition pressure against its approval has intensified towards the government and the parliament. This bill is one of four related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It has been stalled since June of this year due to the votes of the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The approval or disapproval of Iran's accession to this convention could impact the value of Iran's national currency. Iran's deadline to join this bill and subsequently exit the gray list and enter a secure zone for financial and banking transactions ends tomorrow (October 1). Opponents of Iran's accession to FATF regulations, mainly from the opposition to President Hassan Rouhani, argue that this would block financial aid to "Hamas" and "Hezbollah". Supporters of Iran's accession to this treaty argue that the opponents fear economic transparency and the prevention of banking corruption. These four bills include Iran's accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo), amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, amendments to the Counter-Terrorism Financing Law, and Iran's accession to the CFT. Following last week's review of this bill in the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, with the invitation of Ali Larijani and the presence of the Ministers of Information, Foreign Affairs, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, the heads of the Hope and Independents factions, and representatives of the Guardian Council and the Ministry of Economy, this commission finally presented it to the Parliament for review last Tuesday. The IRNA news agency reported that during the review of this bill in Parliament on Sunday (October 1), a "small group" of opponents of its approval, including "some representatives of the Stability Front", gathered in front of the Parliament building. This government-affiliated news agency reported the number of protesters as "about 200" and stated that they were chanting slogans such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", while holding placards with messages like: "Approval of CFT fulfills the enemy's demands", "Do not collude with the enemy, representative", "Please do not rush in approving FATF bills." According to this report, Nasrollah Pejmanfar, Ahmad Salek, Javad Karimi Qodosi, Mohammad Dehghani, and Ahmad Azadikhah, "principlist representatives of the Parliament and members of the Stability Front", delivered speeches among the protesters. The protesters, who had previously prepared a petition against the approval of the four bills after Friday prayers in Tehran, delivered this petition to Ahmad Azadikhah and Mohammad Dehghani for submission to the Parliament. Supporters of Iran's accession to FATF argue that given the onset of the second round of U.S. sanctions against Iran starting on November 4 and the efforts of European countries, China, and Russia to preserve the JCPOA, if these bills are not approved and Iran fails to attract FATF's attention, the mechanisms of Europe and countries like China and Russia for banking and financial interaction with Iran will face problems, and effectively foreign banks will not be able to establish relations with Iran. The Guardian Council and the Expediency Discernment Council must express their views on the Parliament's resolutions regarding the Palermo bills and the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and the Parliament must also express its opinion on the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism. Media critical of the government and close to the IRGC have increased their critical publications regarding the approval of these bills, putting pressure on the government and the Parliament in this regard. The Fars news agency, in an interview with Morteza Nabavian, former head of the special JCPOA committee of the Parliament, quoted him as saying: "If the JCPOA destroyed Iran's economy, FATF will destroy our security." He criticized Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, for introducing these bills in the Parliament and added that despite the "opposition" of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, he allowed them to be introduced in the Parliament. Nabavian accused the Speaker of the Parliament of "supporting government thoughts" and warned that based on the Counter-Terrorism Financing bill, "Hezbollah, Hamas, the people of Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and all those who resist against domination and oppression will be considered terrorists." This news agency close to the IRGC also quoted Alireza Firouzi, the political secretary of the "Union of Independent Islamic Student Associations", stating that Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, also explicitly expressed his opposition to the approval of FATF and similar bills during a meeting with some members of this association. A few days prior, Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, a hardline representative of the Parliament, stated that "some individuals, including the Speaker of the Parliament, are trying to surprise everyone by approving the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism... urgently and quickly in less than 20 minutes, and even less than the time allocated for the review and approval of the JCPOA." The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization established in 1989 at the initiative of the G7 member countries to conduct assessments of the status of anti-money laundering laws in various financial markets worldwide. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic called for the abandonment of Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism on the last day of Khordad and requested that the Parliament independently establish its laws regarding anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. However, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran in the Parliament, reported in mid-September that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, had agreed to the approval of anti-money laundering bills. He stated without further explanation on his Twitter page: "I have heard from reliable sources that the Leader has expressed his approval of the anti-money laundering bills."