Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam told reporters on Tuesday that the security and legal committees of the Expediency Council held a joint session today to study any connections between the four FATF-related bills that Iran has been recommended to endorse in order to join the anti-money laundering watchdog, and the EU’s trade mechanism for Iran, formally known as Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).
He said the session concluded that there was no connection between the FATF-related bills and the EU’s payment channel.
His comment came against the backdrop of certain concerns on the Iranian side that the EU has set up some conditions for Iran in order to make its trade mechanism functional.
Mesbahi maintained that the Council would hold a session next Saturday to address the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (known in Iran as Palermo), which is one of the two controversial FATF-related bills still undergoing intensive studies by Iran.
The other bill is the one on Iran’s accession to the convention against the funding of terrorism (CFT), which needs the Expediency Council’s approval for endorsement.
Mesbahi Moghadam added that the results reached during today’s session would be helpful to the Council’s session on Saturday.
He further stressed that regional issues are related to Iran and regional countries only, adding “Europeans need to comply with their commitments under the JCPOA, not to be setting new conditions for Iran.”
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