Iran’s Not Joining FATF Detrimental: Official

The remark was made by Pedram Soltani, the vice chairman of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce.

“Under the current circumstances, in order to be able to keep open our banking and financial channel with the European Union and China and all countries that are willing to buy petroleum from us, Iran’s monetary and banking transactions need to be recognised as low-risk transactions,” Soltani told khabaronline.

“Otherwise, costs will rise so much that they will impede monetary and banking transactions to a great extent,” he added.

“On the other hand, as we are under the pressure of sanctions, and this pressure could increase or have unpredictable consequences in the future, which we are not aware of at the moment, so we should manage [the country’s] economy in such a way that it remains transparent on the domestic front,” he said.

The official noted that fighting money laundering will benefit domestic economy, people, healthy enterprises and the government.

He said fighting money laundering will increase the government’s income.

“A major part of this rise in the government’s revenues comes from the prevention of tax evasion,” Soltani added.

He said those opposing Iran’s accession to the FATF see the “empty half” of the government’s performance.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Soltani touched upon the United States’ sanctions against Iran, and added negotiations will not help settle this problem

So, he added, the right strategy would be to make decisions to improve the country’s economy.