TEHRAN – An Iranian arbitration body gave its approval on Saturday to ananti-money laundering bill seen as crucial to maintaining internationaltrade and banking ties, the official IRNA news agency reported.
“The bill on amending the law to counter money laundering was approvedwith certain changes and will be sent to the parliament speaker to becommunicated to the government,” Expediency Council member GholamrezaMesbahi-Moghadam told IRNA.
The Expediency Council settles disputes between parliament, which approvedthe bill last year, and the Guardian Council, which vets all legislationand had rejected it.
Conservatives have argued that new legislation on money laundering andterrorist financing will provide Western powers with leverage over Iran’seconomy and how it funds regional allies.
But the government of President Hassan Rouhani says the laws are needed tomeet demands set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF),which monitors countries’ efforts to tackle financial crime.
Iran is alone with North Korea on the FATF’s blacklist — although theParis-based organisation has suspended counter-measures since June 2017while Iran works on reforms.
The FATF will meet again in February to discuss Iran’s progress.
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The government is hoping to salvage banking and trade ties after the UnitedStates walked out of a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers andIran and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.
The other parties to the deal — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia– have sought to salvage the agreement and maintain trade with Iran, buthave called on Tehran to meet FATF requirements.
The anti-money laundering bill is one of four pieces of legislation putforward by the government to that end.
A previous bill on the mechanics of monitoring and preventing terroristfinancing was signed into law in August.
Two others — allowing Iran to join UN conventions againstterrorist-financing and organised crime — have been approved by parliamentbut are still being delayed by higher authorities, including the GuardianCouncil. – APP/AFP
