FATF-related bills' approval to be revised in EC: Pezeshkian

EghtesadOnline: Speaking in a meeting with the members of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) on Tuesday, President Pezeshkian emphasized the need for the joint cooperation between public and private sector activists to remove barriers to economic activities and foreign trade.

In response to the concerns of some members of ICCIMA regarding the removal of obstacles for economic activists, President Pezeshkian announced the decision to reexamine the FATF-related bills in the Expediency Discernment Council and said, "We hope that we can create a suitable platform for facilitating economic activities."

Referring to foreign trips by government officials to participate in international forums and meetings, he called on the economic activists to lay the ground for strengthening and expanding economic activities with other countries.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance (MEAF) Abdolnasser Hemmati said that the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei agreed that Iran's position toward joining two key conventions of the Financial Action Task Force can be reviewed by Iran's Expediency Council.

"I heard from President Masoud Pezeshkian that the Leader had agreed on a renewed discussion in the Expediency Council on the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime known as Palermo in Iran and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) conventions as part of the issue of the FATF," Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance 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 the other conventions and regulations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).  / Mehr