Iran’s Leader Permits Expediency Council to Procced with Work on FATF Bills

Iranian Vice President for Legal Affair Laya Joneidi announced on Monday that Ayatollah Khamenei has agreed on the extension of work on reviewing the FATF bills.

In a recent letter to the Leader, the administration had put forward legal proposals to address a series of concerns of the Expediency Council’s members and has explicated Iran’s current action plan and a number of other developments, such as amendments to a series of recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force, she added.

Ayatollah Khamenei has approved the administration’s proposal for the extension of period for working on the remaining bills relating to the FATF commitments, and referred the case to the Expediency Council, Joneidi noted.

In October 2018, the Iranian Parliament passed a bill proposed by the government on combating the financing of terrorism as part of the country’s implementation of international standards set by the FATF.

The combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) bill, one of the four put forward by the government to meet FATF demands, was passed by 143 votes to 120.

Out of the four bills required by the FATF, Iran has already approved two, but the other two bills have been stalled amid worries that they may expose the country to financial spying and new sanctions on Tehran.