Iran remains on money laundering blacklist
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced that it will continue to keep the Islamic Republic of Iran on its blacklist.
According to Reuters, Marcus Piller, head of the Financial Action Task Force, on Saturday, November 23, emphasizing that the group will tighten restrictions against countries that do not adhere to the organization's regulations, called on governments around the world to implement effective measures against countries such as Iran and North Korea.
Like Iran, North Korea is on this blacklist and is trying to circumvent UN and US sanctions by refusing to pass bills considered by the Financial Action Task Force, through money laundering and clandestine methods.
Emphasizing that countries like North Korea have become "smarter" in circumventing sanctions, Marcus Piller called on other countries to be "smarter" in countering these measures.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international group that works to combat money laundering globally, considers the passage of several bills related to money laundering necessary for Iran to be removed from the blacklist.
On March 2, 2019, the FATF announced that it had returned Iran to its blacklist after the Iranian government refused to approve some bills related to money laundering and necessary reforms in its financial system.
By blacklisting Iran, this group has given all countries the authority to act independently in financial transactions with Iran.
In this way, each country can take independent action to keep its banking system safe from the possibility of participating in money laundering and financing of terrorist activities through transfers and the Iranian banking system.
In late October of last year, this group gave Iran a four-month deadline for the sixth and final time to approve bills related to the conventions on money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but the Iranian government did not comply with this request.
Of the four bills that must be finally approved in this regard, two bills, "Palermo" and "CFT", are still pending in the Expediency Discernment Council, despite the insistence of Hassan Rouhani's government.
In March of last year, after Iran returned to the blacklist, the Iranian President told the members of the Diagnostic Council that they must be "accountable for their unprofessional stance" regarding Iran's inclusion on the FATF blacklist.
Opponents of the passage of these bills say that if these two bills are passed, Iran's financial assistance to Iranian-affiliated militia groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah will face difficulties.
Previously, a number of members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had asked Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, to pave the way for the approval of two bills related to the FATF in the Expediency Discernment Council.
The signatories of the letter warned that failure to pass these bills would lead to economic and social problems that would "further isolate the country and disrupt economic and financial relations."
The Leader of the Islamic Republic has so far refrained from making any explicit comments on this matter and has left the decision-making to the members of the Expediency Discernment Council.
Most of the people who are members of the Expediency Discernment Council and who hold politically more publicly loyal positions than the Leader of the Islamic Republic have opposed the approval of these bills.
In recent months, some officials from the Iranian Chamber of Commerce have said 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, the head of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, announced in August this year, referring to the lack of cooperation between Russian and Chinese banks, that the FATF had "repeatedly" sent a circular to the world's 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 that the main reason for the reluctance of foreign banks, including Chinese and Russian banks, is the severe sanctions imposed by the US government, and that whether or not they comply with FATF regulations has little impact on this situation.
This group of opponents believes that in the current circumstances, passing money laundering bills is a form of "self-sanctions" and will only help countries such as the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to discover and block the financial transfer routes that the Iranian government uses to circumvent sanctions.
Source: Radio Farda
