Senior Cleric:

International Bodies Not Trustworthy

Rasa - Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami warned the Iranian government against trusting the international organizations backed and monitored by the Western countries, specially the US.

News ID: 441132

Date: 20 October 2018 - 13:19

RNA - Addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Khatami said, "We should be careful because the global arrogance is trying to penetrate into Iran after 40 years on the pretext of international laws and regulations."

"The executive secretary of the Financial Action Task Force has said that there is no guarantee for striking Iran off FATF's blacklist," the senior cleric reminded, expressing doubt about Iran's endorsement of the Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in a bid to fullfill the FATF's requirements.

Ayatollah Khatami's remarks came after the Iranian legislative body voted for joining the Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism (CFT).

The senior cleric said that Iran's Guardians Council has yet to endorse Iranian parliament's approval on joining the CFT.

The parliament’s open session debating the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) kicked off last Sunday morning with 268 lawmakers in attendance.

The CFT was approved with 143 yes votes, 120 no votes and 5 abstentions.

To fulfill FATF requirements, President Hassan Rouhani’s administration has proposed four bills to the parliament for approval, two of which are still undecided, including the Palermo Convention. They have been referred to the Expediency Council for final approval.

According to Fars News Agancy, Iran recently approved anti-money laundering (AML), which was a domestically-developed bill, and it voted to join the CFT standards set by the FATF for years.

On June 30, the FATF said Iran had until October to complete reforms that would “bring it into line with global norms or face consequences” that could further deter investors from the country.

The FATF recommendations are the internationally endorsed global standards against money laundering and terrorist financing: they increase transparency and enable countries to successfully take action against illicit use of their financial system.

The CFT bill which gained the yes vote in the parliament on Sunday will be sent to the Guardian Council for final approval.

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