Baqaei confirms Iran’s official accession to Palermo since August 6
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei on Monday confirmed Iran’s membership in the "United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime," known as the Palermo Convention since August 6.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, Baqaei said the decision to join the convention was made by the country’s decision-making authorities based on the national interests.
After the approval of Iran’s accession to the convention by the country’s authorities, the accession document was submitted by the secretary-general of the United Nations, Baqaei said, adding the move took place on August 6 and Iran officially became a member of the UN convention.
Iran’s Financial Intelligence Unit announced that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has, for the first time in six years, formally invited the head of Iran’s Financial Intelligence Unit to participate in direct negotiations.
The invitation follows Iran’s recent presentation of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures to FATF’s regional group, as well as the ratification of the Palermo Convention by the country’s Expediency Council.
According to the statement, FATF’s secretariat has officially invited Hadi Khani, head of the Iranian Finance Ministry's financial intelligence department, to attend the talks. The meeting will take place in Madrid, Spain.
The Palermo Convention, adopted by the UN in 2000, was approved by Iran’s Expediency Council earlier this year.
Work on ratifying the CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism) convention — seen as complementary to the Palermo Convention — is ongoing.
Iran’s accession to the two conventions remains the sole obstacle to the country’s membership in the FATF. Resolving the issue would enable Iran to soon exit the FATF’s “blacklist,” which outlines recommendations for combating financial crimes, including terrorism financing and money laundering.