Gov’t spox warns banks will be crippled by not joining FATF
Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said that, “We will cripple our banks” by not accepting the Palermo and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) conventions of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Mohajerani said in a weekly press conference on Tuesday that the Palermo and the CFT conventions, to which Iran has yet to join, alongside the sanctions imposed on Iran have created problems for the country’s banking system.
She said that to create banking relations with the countries that Iran is cooperating with them, including the members of the BRICS group of emerging economies and Eurasian countries, “it is necessary to prove that we do not launder money, do not have organized cooperation with terrorism, and do not assist (terrorist) groups such as Boko
Haram, etc.”
Since January 12, Iran’s Expediency Council has started re-examining various clauses of the Palermo and CFT conventions after the country’s top leadership allowed renewed discussions on the FATF case in the council.
Restrictions imposed by the FATF on Iran’s banking system will be removed once the country enacts the Palermo and the CFT conventions.
The Iranian Parliament has approved the 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 approved other conventions and regulations adopted by the FATF.
The renewed push to examine Iran’s full accession to the FATF comes amid efforts by President Masoud Pezeshkian and his administration to open up to the world and to improve an economy affected by global inflation and foreign sanctions.