BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 24. The issue of Iran joining the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) remains on the agenda in the country's interest, the spokesperson of the Iranian government, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said at the first press conference in Tehran on September 24, TurkicWorld reports.
According to her, Iran cooperates within the framework of two FATF Conventions. The other two conventions are the Palermo and CFT Conventions.
Mohajerani noted that ratification of these two conventions is under consideration by the Expediency Discernment Council in the interest of the country. It is hoped that a step in this direction will be taken soon.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental body that regulates the rules for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. At the last meeting of this organization, Iran was warned that if the country's program of steps is not improved, Iran may be added to the list of non-cooperative countries. Iran has complied with 37 out of 41 FATF steps.
The remaining four steps or conventions fall under the scope of the legislation. "Amendments to the Law on Combating Money Laundering", "Amendments to the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism", "Accession to the International Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo)", and Accession to the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) have been drafted by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament. Although the four conventions were approved by the parliament and sent to the Advisory Council, the CFT conventions and the Palermo Convention have not yet been approved by the mentioned council.
FATF was established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 group to combat money laundering. The organization has 37 members and its secretariat is located in Paris.
Iran has been blacklisted by the FATF since 2007, and retaliatory measures have been officially imposed against Tehran since 2009. Thus, countries had to be cautious in financial and banking exchanges with Iran. Since 2016, diplomatic steps have delayed the introduction of retaliatory measures against Iran.
To note, the financial group FATF placed Iran on the list of non-cooperative countries (blacklist) on February 21, 2020.
