Leader agrees to renewed discussions on FATF conventions

The Iranian minister of economy said that the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution agreed that Iran's position toward joining two key conventions of the Financial Action Task Force can be reviewed by Iran's Expediency Council.

News ID: 2000545

EghtesadOnline: "I heard from the revered president (Masoud Pezeshkian) that the Supreme Leader had agreed on a renewed discussion in the Expediency Council on the Palermo and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) conventions as part of the issue of the FATF," Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati announced on his X on Tuesday.

The Iranian parliament has approved Palermo and the CFT, but Iran's Guardian Council, which is responsible for vetting parliament legislation, has refused to ratify them, citing the need for some amendments.

Iran has ratified other conventions and regulations of the FATF.

In his first press conference after taking office in mid-September, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged his government's commitment to resolve disputes surrounding the FATF. In late September, Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani affirmed that Tehran would pursue FATF based on its national interests.

Established in 1989, the FATF is an inter-governmental body aimed at setting standards and promoting effective implementation of legal, regulatory, and operational measures to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other threats to the international financial system. The FATF describes itself as a “policy-making body” that generates the necessary political will to effect national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas. / Mehr