Iran’s Guardian Council Won’t Be Intimidated by CFT Opponents

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati (center) and Abbasali Kadkhodaei (left) on the sidelines of a Guardian Council meeting in Tehran. / Photo by ISNA

“The Guardian Council won’t yield to pressures and will announce its opinion within the framework of the Constitution and Sharia [Islamic law],” Abbasali Kadkhodaei told IRNA on Monday.

On Sunday, Iran’s parliament approved a bill to allow the government to join the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) convention, with 143 votes in its favour, 120 against and five abstentions.

The legislation needs to be ratified by the Guardian Council before being signed into law.

The parliament approved the bill amid harsh criticisms of conservative opponents.

On Sunday, hundreds of people hold a protest gathering outside the parliament, saying approving this bill would amount to betraying the values of the revolution and is against guidelines of the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Lawmakers had in recent weeks received dozens of threatening messages from unknown sources warning them against voting for the bill.

Tayyebeh Siavoshi, a Tehran lawmaker, tweeted on Monday that she had received threatening messages that opponents will bombard the parliament if the bill is approved.

Khalil Movahedi Mohassel, a religious figure based in Mashhad who has claimed responsibility for the messages, told Dideban Iran news website that they will move to warn the Guardian Council about dangers the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) poses to Iran.

The CFT bill is one of the four bills proposed by the Hassan Rouhani administration to get Iran out of the blacklist of the global anti-money laundering body, the FATF.

Iran entered into talks with the G7-created FATF to join the body following the January 2016 implementation of the JCPOA.

The FATF has requested Iran to implement necessary reforms until late October.