Voting on the Palermo Bill Postponed to the New Year

On Saturday, March 2, the Expediency Council failed to reach a conclusion for the fourth time regarding the Palermo bill, postponing the voting on two bills related to combating money laundering and financing terrorism to next year. According to Iranian media, the session, which was attended by nine members of the Council who had not previously had the opportunity to express their views on Palermo, was notable for the absence of President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Council, announced multiple reasons for the delay in the final vote on the Palermo bill, stating that due to 'overlaps and considerations between the Palermo and CFT bills,' it was decided to delay the review of the Palermo bill 'to allow the relevant CFT experts to be present.' He also mentioned that the 'behavior of the FATF' and 'the behavior of Europeans' would influence the Council's final decision on these two bills. Earlier, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, a member of the Council, told Tasnim news agency that discussions on Palermo had concluded, but it was decided that 'members would not announce their final votes for now and would postpone the final decision to the next Council meeting in Farvardin (April).' Mesbahi Moghadam emphasized that the views of 'all supporters and opponents of Palermo' had been expressed in the Council sessions, stating, 'The results are almost clear.' However, he did not provide further details about the 'almost clear results.' According to IRIB news agency, the Palermo bill has been rejected in two of the Council's commissions, including the 'Political and Security Commission' and the 'Legal and Judicial Commission.' Iran's accession to the two conventions on combating money laundering and financing terrorism, presented in the form of the Palermo and CFT bills, is among the demands of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) from the Islamic Republic to comply with global standards. In recent months, the debate over these two bills has turned into a political struggle within the Islamic Republic, with some, including Mahmoud Sadqi, a member of parliament, suggesting a referendum on the matter. However, the referendum proposal has faced reactions from the so-called principlist faction in Iran, and recently, Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari, a member of the Expediency Council, stated at the end of Saturday's meeting that 'a referendum on this matter is meaningless.' For several days, some members of the Expediency Council have stated that 'given the guidance' of the Supreme Leader, the approval of these two bills requires the approval of two-thirds of the members. Although many opponents of these two bills are appointed by and close to the Supreme Leader, various reports have emerged regarding his personal views. Last week's comments by Hassan Rouhani and his quote from Ali Khamenei that 'he has no opposition to these bills' also made headlines and sparked various reactions. Of the four bills that Hassan Rouhani's government presented to parliament to meet the demands of the international anti-money laundering and terrorism financing body, only two have been approved. The FATF has so far given the Islamic Republic four opportunities to pass laws and comply with global standards to be removed from its blacklist.