The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted by General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000, is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime.
Iranian Parliament approved Iran’s membership in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) on Wednesday.
The Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Iran responded to the opposition groups inside the country in a statement on Monday, saying that Iran’s membership in the UN convention has nothing to do with the activities of the Axis of Resistance.
Opposition groups have already expressed their concern over the definitions of crimes in the UN document, saying that those definitions might affect the activities of the groups in the Axis of Resistance and Iran’s support for them. They have also related the UN convention with other international agreements including anti money laundering FATF agreement saying that it might affect Iran’s commercial and financial relations with other countries.
With regard to the concerns over Iranian financial transactions, the Foreign Ministry statement says that Iran has already been a member to United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the same provisions are there as well, but they have not caused any problems for Iran.
Regarding concerns over the UNTOC probable relation with anti-money laundering FATF agreement, the Foreign Ministry's statement declares that Iran has been abiding by regulations in the UNTOC since 2000, while its relations with FATF only goes back to last year.
The statement went on to conclude that Iran’s membership provides Iran with advantages. For example, the membership in the UNCAC can enhance Iran’s bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation with other member countries in countering the threats posed by organized crimes, while it increases judicial ties with other countries.
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