The Guardian Council’s Spokesperson Abbasali Kadkhodaei announced on Saturday
that the council members have rejected the proposed bill that would allow
Tehran to join the Financial Action Task Force.
The bill was deemed to infringe the Iranian Constitution because it should
have been initially proposed by the Judiciary, the spokesman added.
In June, the Iranian parliament passed a law that allows the country to join
the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), but
decided to put on hold debates on Iran’s accession to FATF for two months.
The MPs decided that dealing with the FATF issue be shelved until results of
negotiations with Europe on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), become clear.
The Guardian Council is a constitutionally mandated 12-member council in Iran
that, among other things, is tasked with ensuring the compatibility of the
legislation passed by the parliament with the criteria of Islam and the
Constitution.
The Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body established in
1989 with the purpose of setting standards and promoting effective
implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money
laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of
the international financial system.
Source: Tasnim