Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, said CFT approval increases Iran’s bargaining power, at the same time, its dismissal does not mean an end for Iran’s economic transactions with the world. Referring to the re-examination of a law on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) at National Security and Foreign Policy […]
Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, said CFT approval increases Iran’s bargaining power, at the same time, its dismissal does not mean an end for Iran’s economic transactions with the world.
Referring to the re-examination of a law on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) at National Security and Foreign Policy Commission’s meeting to be held on Sunday afternoon, he said the “in the current situation in the country different ideas are set up by different streams in relation to the conventions and requirements related to FATF issues, however, he noted, the Parliament will not act emotionally and will decide based on the national interests and The Constitution.”
The reason for postponing for two months the review process of the government-proposed bill aimed at joining the United Nation’s International Convention for Combating the Financing of Terrorism, was to study the outcome of the talks with the European sides on JCPOA after US pullout, and now there is a controversy among different groups; on the other hand, according to the requirements declared by the Parliament Rules of Procedure, we have to announce vote on the bill as soon as possible, since Iran’s deadline with FATF is only 5 weeks away.
He noted that the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament will consider every single opinion on Iran’s talks with European signatories to JCPOA.
He said the review of CFT does not necessarily mean approval or disapproval of the bill; the Commission needs to study the bill with all details to eventually comment on it.
He further commented on the concerns and warnings of experts and analysts regarding the adoption of bills, including CFT and FATF, saying “the Financial Action Task Force has provided 40 recommendations on financial transparency to our country, with four of them related to the conventions adoption of which can enhance our bargaining power on the international scene, yet their disapproval does not mean an end to Iran’s economic transactions with the world.
Pointing to Leader’s guidelines on the consequences of some international conventions, Falahatpisheh said “if a convention violates letter and spirit of The Constitution, we will not approve it, but if we could provide our national interests by the bill “on some conditions,” we will approve it.”
Iran’s Guardian Council rejected CFT bill on Saturday, recognizing four paragraphs of it as inconsistent with the country’s Constitution and Sharia laws, and as such, has returned the bill to the Parliament for making the required amendments.
