Pointing to the comments and expectations of the officials who have referred to the Parliament on FATF, Falahatpisheh said "Central Bank of Iran has announced that if Iran fails to comply with FATF regulations, Iranian banks will go bankrupt."
Referring to the topics discussed at the meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, Falahatpisheh said "today, the number of members sates of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is more than those of United Nations, which makes it impossible for at least four million Iranians not to be able to work abroad with Iranian identity, and they have to take the nationality of other countries, among whom there are elites and businessmen; in the meantime our embassies cannot do any financial work and major trade transactions."
It has been reported that banks of different sides, including China, have put Iran on their blacklist, which has led to the increased trade costs and risks with Iran; I have already mentioned that FATF review sessions should be aired live on IRIB, so that everyone, including government officials, experts and MPs could comment on what decisions are made, he noted.
Falahatpisheh pointed to the reports of Intelligence Ministry over the issue, and said "the ministry have officially announced that, according to intelligence reports, enemies are seeking to cut Iran's cooperation with the Special Financial Action Task Force," adding these are expert talks that are held at parliamentary meetings with experts and related organizations, and we believe that they should be open to the public.
Back in June, 2018, members of the Iranian Parliament discussed the CFT accession bill, which is one of the four bills proposed by the government on Iran’s adopting the FTAF standards, but shelved it for two months.
The Parliament also approved a bill on the country’s accession to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, also known as Palermo Convention, but the bill was rejected by the Guardian Council. Then the Parliament insisted on its decision, and the case has been referred to the Expediency Council to make the final decision.
The same thing happened to an amendment to the anti-money laundering law of the Islamic Republic, which was proposed by the government, approved by the Parliament, but rejected by the Guardian Council. This one has also been rejected by the Expediency Council.
Meanwhile, the fourth bill, which was an amendment to the country’s law against financing terrorism, was approved by the Parliament and the Guardian Council, and signed into law by President Hassan Rouhani.
Some factions and MPs in the Parliament have opposed signing up to the FATF rules, since it has been offerred by President Hassan Rouhani.
LR/IRN83052189