Two-Thirds Majority Required for Approval of Palermo Bill in the Expediency Council

Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council of the Islamic Republic, stated without providing details that "given the guidance" of Ali Khamenei, the approval of the Palermo bill will only occur if two-thirds of the members approve it. In an interview with the IRNA news agency published on Friday, March 1, he did not elaborate on the "requirement for a two-thirds majority" but emphasized that "if this level of votes is not achieved, the bill will be rejected in the Council." According to the report, the Palermo bill is set to be reviewed again in the Council on Saturday, March 2, and "after its resolution," the review of the CFT bill will be on the agenda. Simultaneously, Hossein Mozaffar, another member of the Expediency Council, also emphasized in an interview with the Tasnim news agency that a "two-thirds majority is needed for the approval of these two bills." Mozaffar also mentioned that "voting is not on the agenda" for the Council meeting on Saturday, and decisions regarding both bills will be announced "in one stage." The conflict between supporters and opponents of these two bills has become a newsworthy issue in the political arena of the Islamic Republic in recent months, and although many opponents are appointed by and close to the Supreme Leader, various reports have emerged regarding his personal views. Last week, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stated: "The Leader has told me several times that he has no objection to these bills." These statements by Rouhani faced reactions, including from Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, who called them "inappropriate" and said that the quoted remarks "mean that the Leader has no opinion; not that he agrees with this matter." Following that, Gholamali Haddad Adel, another member of the Expediency Council, also contradicted Rouhani's statements, saying that Ayatollah Khamenei "did not endorse the supporters of the Palermo bill." Out of the four bills that Rouhani's government has submitted to the parliament to meet the demands of the international anti-money laundering body, two bills known as Palermo and CFT have not yet been approved, and the decision regarding them has been delegated to the Expediency Discernment Council. The Palermo bill concerns Iran's accession to the convention against transnational organized crime, while the CFT bill pertains to Iran's accession to the convention on combating the financing of terrorism. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has given the Islamic Republic of Iran four opportunities to pass laws and comply with global standards to be removed from its blacklist.