Iran Remains on FATF Blacklist
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a special group focused on combating money laundering, announced that it will continue to keep the Islamic Republic of Iran on its blacklist.
According to Reuters news agency, Marcus Pleyer, head of the Financial Action Task Force, stated on Saturday, October 24, that the group will intensify restrictions against countries that do not comply with its regulations, and called on world governments to implement effective measures against countries such as Iran and North Korea.
North Korea, like Iran, is also on this blacklist and seeks to circumvent UN and American sanctions through money laundering and covert methods by refusing to adopt bills proposed by the Financial Action Task Force.
Marcus Pleyer emphasized that countries such as North Korea have become “smarter” in circumventing sanctions, and called on other countries to be “smarter” in countering these practices.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international group that operates with the aim of combating money laundering globally, requires the passage of several bills related to money laundering for Iran to be removed from the blacklist.
The FATF announced on February 19, 2020, that it had returned Iran to its blacklist after the Iranian government refrained from passing certain bills related to money laundering and necessary reforms in its financial system.
By placing Iran on the blacklist, this group has given all countries the authority to independently take action regarding financial transfers with Iran.
In this way, every country can independently take action to protect its banking system from the possibility of participation in money laundering and financing of terrorist activities through transfers and Iran’s banking system.
This group gave Iran a four-month deadline in late October of last year for the sixth and final time to ratify bills related to money laundering conventions and terrorist financing, but the Iranian government refused to comply with such a request.
Of the four bills that must be finally adopted in this regard, two bills, “Palermo” and “CFT,” despite the insistence of Hassan Rouhani’s government, remain pending in the Expediency Discernment Council.
Iran’s president stated in February of last year, after Iran’s return to the blacklist, addressing the members of the Expediency Discernment Council that they should be “accountable for their unprofessional stance” for placing Iran on the FATF blacklist.
Opponents of passing these bills say that if these two bills are passed, Iran’s financial aid to quasi-military groups affiliated with Iran, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, will face problems.
Previously, a number of members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had asked Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, to facilitate the passage of two bills related to FATF in the Expediency Discernment Council.
The signatories of this letter warned that the failure to pass these bills would result in economic and social problems that would “further isolate the country and disrupt economic and financial transactions.”
The leader of the Islamic Republic has so far refrained from making clear statements on this matter and has delegated decision-making to members of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Most individuals who are members of the Expediency Discernment Council and who hold more openly loyal political positions toward the leader of the Islamic Republic have opposed the passage of these bills.
In recent months, some officials of the Iran Chamber of Commerce have stated that even Chinese and Russian banks, which previously had limited cooperation with Iran, are not cooperating with Iran due to fear of FATF regulations.
Mohammad Reza Hariri, head of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, announced in June of this year, referring to the lack of cooperation from Russian and Chinese banks, that FATF has “repeatedly” sent circulars to world banking systems stating that “Iran is a high-risk country and its financial transactions must be strictly controlled.”
However, opponents of passing money laundering bills say the main reason for the reluctance of foreign banks, including Chinese and Russian banks, is the severe sanctions imposed by the US government, and compliance or non-compliance with FATF regulations has little effect on this situation.
This group of opponents believes that under current conditions, the passage of money laundering bills is a form of “self-sanctions” and only helps countries such as the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia discover and block the financial transfer routes that the Iranian government uses to circumvent sanctions.
Source: Radio Farda
