Araghchi urges endorsement of remaining FATF-related bills

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Spokesman for the Independent Fraction at the Iranian Parliament, Mehrdad Lahouti, quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as having said at the Fraction’s meeting today that it would be better for the country to endorse the two remaining FATF-related bills in order to bypass the current sanctions and pressures.

“We talked about the FATF’s four-month extended deadline for Iran, and given the severe pressure exerted by the US on companies wishing to do business with Iran, Araghchi’s view was that the FATF-related bills should be endorsed in order to bypass the sanctions,” he said.

On Feb. 22, the global watchdog FATF welcomed Iran's measures to strengthen its anti-money laundering legislation, giving the country an extended June deadline to complete the reforms.

The body maintained that financial institutions operating in Iran would face 'increased international scrutiny', should the country fail to take those measures before the extended deadline.

Iran has already ratified two of the amendment bills on the country’s domestic laws regarding money laundering and terrorism financing. But the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, known as Palermo Convention in Iran, as well as the bill on Iran’s accession to the convention against the funding of terrorism (CFT), are the two controversial bills undergoing intensive reviews in the Expediency Council for the final verdict.

The Iranian MP further added that Araghchi also discussed the US-organized anti-Iran conference in Warsaw.

Araghchi said the conference resulted in a failure for the US, and they could not even extract their desired statement out of the event, Lahouti added.

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