Joining FATF may hinder Iran’s support for Resistance groups
Chairman of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said Tue. that possibility of blocking Iran’s support for Axis of Resistance is behind lawmakers’ refusal to pass FATF-related bills.
Speaking on the sidelines of a parliament session today to review the bill on Iran’s accession to International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Alaeddin Boroujerdi in response to a question put forward said that lawmakers' concerns about the CFT are tied to Iran’s national interests.
Boroujerdi referred to Iran’s support for Resistance groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, saying that the main reason cited by the lawmakers is the fear that those bills may block Iran’s relations with them.
In response to another question with regard to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks against Iran, he said that the United States created and supported terrorist groups like ISIL while Iran has been at the forefront of the fight with US-backed terrorism.
The Parliament has been reviewing three FATF-related bills, including the bill on amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Law, the bill on amendment to the Law of Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and the bill of "Accession of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism.”
Following lawmakers’ protests and the subsequent voting at today’s parliament session, the bill on Iran’s accession to International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism was once again returned to National Security Commission to be evaluated within two weeks.
Iranian Principalist MPs at the Parliament have warned Rouhani’s administration and the Parliament of cooperation with FATF, saying that fulfilling its obligations will not compel the big European banks to do business with Iran as they have shown in the past two years after the implementation of the JCPOA. While, on the other hand, Rouhani administration believes that approving the bills by the Parliament will pave the way for Iran’s rejoining the world economy.
Boroujerdi pointed to Iran’s differences with other countries that the United States is at odds with including North Korea, saying “we are the only country that has the courage to stand against America that claims to be a superpower. We arrest US soldiers who enter our waters, and brought down their drone and did not give them back to them.”
Elsewhere, in response to a question regarding the ongoing negotiations with Europeans, the Iranian lawmaker said that EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini’s statement on the future of the JCPOA is not enough, stressing that Europe must materialize the guarantees.
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