TEHRAN – The Expediency Council (EC) on Sunday addressed the ratification of two controversial bills on Iran’s accession to the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

During the meeting, chaired by Mohsen Rezaee, members of the council addressed the convention against the funding of terrorism (CFT) and the UN Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, according to the Mehr news agency.

Iran has been called upon to ratify CFT and Palermo as part of the requirements to join the global anti-money laundering watchdog.

During the meeting, the questions and uncertainties of the council members regarding the ratification of the two treaties were discussed.

Representatives from the Central Bank, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vice President Department for Legal Affairs, and Ministry of Intelligence were also asked to share their expert opinions on the matter.

It was also decided to submit 11 questions on the issue to the president’s office and request an official response to them from the Rouhani administration.

The EC joint commission will continue the sessions until a final verdict is reached.  

The FATF has given Iran until June to fix its anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules or face increased international scrutiny of its banks.

One of the actions Iran is required to take to appease the FATF is joining the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), which is also called the Palermo Convention, a 2000 United Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime.

The other action is to join the CFT (the convention combatting financing of terrorism).

MH/PA