Washington is trying to cut all of Iran’s trade, financial, and economic ties with the world; therefore, we should not help them in this direction by not approving the FATF bills.
What will be the process of re-examining the bills of joining of Iran to the CFT and Palermo International Conventions in the Expediency Council?
First of all, you should note that the Supreme Leader’s agreement to reconsider a bill or subject in the Expediency Council is a new phenomenon and has never happened before. Therefore, it seems that a new mechanism should be defined to examine it. Thus, it is unclear at this time exactly what mechanism the Expediency Council will take to review the bills in relation to the FATF. What is important until then is that the Supreme Leader agrees to reconsider the FATF bills and return them to the agenda of the Expediency Council. We have to wait to determine the rest of them.
You know that some members of the Expediency Council were among the strongest opponents of the FATF bills. Given the Supreme Leader’s agreement to reconsider these bills, are you more hopeful about the fate of these bills and their approval?
Naturally, there is a perception that the approach of the members of the Expediency Council will be more positive this time considering the agreement of the Supreme Leader to reconsider these bills. Of course, it should not be forgotten that he only issued a command for an investigation, but as soon as the command for a re-examination was issued by the Supreme Leader (because of Mr. Rouhani’s letter to him and mentioning some issues by the president), a new approach will probably prevail but we will have to wait and see where it goes; however, I personally hope that this time the FATF bills will be finalised and approved.
Another point is about the Supreme Leader’s consent. According to the internal regulations of the Expediency Council, whether this agreement be considered as an example of a Supreme Leader’s decree (Hokm-e Hokoomati) or not?
In my opinion, it does not matter what term we use to describe it. The Supreme Leader is notified of all approvals of the Expediency Council; So he is fully aware of the issues. However, it is not clear what we can name the command for reviewing the FATF bills and whether it is a Supreme Leader decree (Hokm-e Hokoomati) or not. Because not only is this unprecedented but also the mechanism for reviewing it in the Expediency Council has not yet been determined. But the obvious point is that after his order, the Expediency Council will put the FATF bills back on its agenda and will probably reconsider them at its first meeting.
Do you still want the bills to be passed?
Yes! We have repeatedly called for these bills to be passed, and we still want that to happen; Because we think that if these bills are not approved by the Expediency Council, the banking and trade relations of Iran with the world will face very serious problems. We need to know that the non-approval of these bills in Iran will help the US sanctions against Iran. Today, Washington is trying to cut all of Iran’s trade, financial, and economic ties with the world; therefore, we should not help them in this direction by not approving the FATF bills.