Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Mon. that the Expediency Council’s final verdict on accession to the two FATF-related conventions will be surely based on the country’s national interests.

A member of the Expediency Council, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, said the country would not endorse the FATF-related bills as a prerequisite for the EU’s trade mechanism INSTEX.

Spokesman for the Independent Fraction at the Iranian Parliament, Mehrdad Lahouti revealed the presence of Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs in today’s session of the Parliament and said, “considering the extant situation in the country and solving economic problems, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related bills should be approved.”

TEHRAN – Spokesman to the Guardian Council says nobody fears holding referendum on the FATF-related bills but as long as all official bodies are doing their own jobs, holding the referendum is not necessary.

The Expediency Council’s Saturday meeting on joining the UN Convention on Transnational Crime (Palermo bill) ended without conclusion, leaving the fate of the bill unknown till the next Iranian year (starting in March 21), a member of the council said.

Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said that behavior of European countries will influence the body’s final decision about ratifying FATF-related bills.

The Expediency Council is holding a session Saturday to discuss the bill on the country’s accession to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, known as Palermo Convention in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif called on officials in charge of casting the final verdict on endorsement of the two remaining FATF-related bills to base their decisions on ‘facts’. Speaking to reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of a national conference on multilateralism in Iran’s foreign policy, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif answered a question on […]

 Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei highlighted that there are many ambiguities in FATF guidelines. “While there exist many questions and ambiguities about FATF guidelines, it is expected from the government to prevent the country from sinking into a new quagmire,” he wrote Saturday on his Instagram account. FATF watchdog extended Iran’s deadline for four months […]

the anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force announced on Friday that it has extended the suspension of countermeasures against Iran for another four months, recognizing the country’s efforts in meeting its Action Plan. “The FATF decided at its meeting this week to continue the suspension of counter-measures. While welcoming the passage of the […]