Zarif: Thousands of billions of tomans are being laundered in the country
The Iranian Foreign Minister says that "the Islamic Republic is free from money laundering," but at the same time he announced that thousands of billions of tomans are being laundered in the country.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was speaking in a public session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Sunday, November 3, in response to a question about "money laundering," said that his previous remarks were not his alone and that "various officials in the country" had made these remarks.
At the same time, he emphasized that "pressure groups" with "personal interests" are unwilling to see Iran join the conventions to combat "terrorism and money laundering."
Referring to his remarks on November 11 last year that had a wide resonance, the Iranian Foreign Minister said: "I said that there are pressure groups in the Islamic Republic that benefit from money laundering. They benefit from thousands of billions of tomans from money laundering, and if it weren't for that, the judiciary and the government wouldn't have approved a 60-page regulation on money laundering."
Mr. Zarif, however, only mentioned the case of the Sultan of Coins trial and said that "the Islamic Republic's system is free from money laundering."
The Iranian Foreign Minister added: "Thousands of billions of tomans are being laundered by coin and currency smuggling gangs, which are being investigated today in economic crimes courts."
He asked, "If there is no money laundering in Iran and corrupt groups do not launder money, for what crime did you execute Sultan Sekeh?"
Last November, Mohammad Javad Zarif stated that the reason for the "space-building" against bills related to money laundering in Iran was the "economic benefits of tens of billions of tomans" of some individuals.
He accused cultural institutions linked to "powerful bodies" of "creating a vacuum" about Iran's accession to anti-money laundering conventions.
A number of members of the Stability Front had posed a question to the Foreign Minister in response to these remarks.
Two bills for Iran's accession to the Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Iran's accession to the Convention on the Suppression of Transnational Organized Crime have not yet been approved by the Expediency Council of Iran, despite requests from officials in the Hassan Rouhani administration.
Meanwhile, Gholamreza Ansari, Deputy Director of Economic Diplomacy at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, has said that if the FATF bills are not approved, "a dead end" will be struck at Iran's banking system.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is responsible for monitoring financial transparency in international bank transfers, preventing money laundering, and financing of terrorism, gave Iran a four-month deadline for the sixth and final time in late October this year to approve bills related to the money laundering and financing of terrorism conventions.
Zarif's words about "Malekash Azam"
In another part of his speech, Mr. Zarif said: "I am known in the world for my courage in defending the people and the system. Look at the title that the US Secretary of State has given me. Of course, these things make me proud."
The US State Department's Persian Twitter account, in translating a phrase by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, used the term "Maalekash Azam" to refer to Mr. Zarif.
According to the parliamentary rules, after the minister who was questioned has explained, the questioning representatives also speak. However, Mr. Zarif said that he had to leave the parliamentary session because he had to attend a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council.
"What Mr. Zarif did was wrong," said Masoud Pezhakian, deputy speaker of the parliament. "It would not have been a problem for him to stay eight minutes longer, and his actions are unacceptable."
Mohammad Reza Sabaghian, a representative from Bafq, also said that we should no longer "allow Zarif to enter parliament."
Source: Radio Farda
