Tehran Friday Prayer Leader Calls FATF 'Capitulation' and 'Humiliating'

The Friday prayer leader of Tehran thanked the Guardian Council for rejecting the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, calling the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regulations 'capitulation' and 'humiliating.' According to ISNA news agency, Kazem Sedighi stated in his sermon on November 9 that 'we expect our officials not to pursue humiliating laws; FATF and similar entities are a continuation of capitulation.' He urged the Islamic Republic officials to avoid plans that are 'cooked up in the colonial think tank.' Sedighi also thanked the Guardian Council for considering the 'expectations of revolutionaries.' The bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, which is referred to as the 'most important' bill related to the implementation of FATF regulations, was recently rejected by the Guardian Council. The 'High Supervisory Board on the Implementation of General Policies of the System,' which operates within the Expediency Discernment Council, also raised objections to this bill. However, Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, stated in a letter to the Secretary of the Guardian Council that these objections were raised outside the legally designated timeframe, and the Parliament would not review them. Some members of Parliament, including Ali Motahari, have interpreted the actions of the 'High Supervisory Board' as the formation of a 'second Guardian Council.' Nevertheless, Ahmad Tavakoli and Mohammad Reza Bahonar, two members of the Expediency Discernment Council, expressed optimism about the approval of the bill in this council. According to Iranian laws, the Parliament can address the Guardian Council's objections to this bill or send it to the Expediency Discernment Council 'with insistence' on its own resolution. Meanwhile, Mojtaba Zolnour, a member of the Stability Front in Parliament, stated that the Guardian Council's objections 'are not resolvable at all because the objections pertain to the text of the convention, not the conditions of the National Security Commission of Parliament.' Of the other three FATF-related bills, including 'the bill to amend the Anti-Money Laundering Law,' 'the bill to amend the Anti-Terrorism Financing Law,' and 'the Palermo bill,' only the first has been approved by the Guardian Council, while the status of the others remains unclear. Despite Ayatollah Khamenei's previous opposition, it was announced in a public session reviewing the CFT bill in Parliament that the Supreme Leader has no objection to the approval of the bill for Iran's accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism. The FATF expressed regret on October 19 that most of Iran's commitments remain unresolved, while extending Iran's suspension from the group's blacklist for another four months, which was welcomed by Iranian officials. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has advised Iran to implement anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures before the FATF deadline in February 2019. 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.