Guardian Council Rejects Controversial Bill
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran’s Guardian Council on Sunday rejected a controversial bill on joining the UN convention against terrorist financing seen, which its proponents claim is crucial to maintaining trade and banking ties with the world.
The council, which oversees legislation passed by the parliament, said aspects of the bill were against Islamic law and the constitution and sent it back to lawmakers for revision.
"The Guardian Council has in several sessions reviewed the bill... and it has considered it to have flaws and ambiguities,” wrote spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaie on Twitter.
The bill, narrowly passed by parliament on Oct. 7, is one of four put forward by the government of President Hassan Rohani in order to meet demands set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which purportedly monitors countries’ efforts to tackle money-laundering and terrorist financing.
Many critics in Iran say the laws would limit the country’s ability to support "resistance groups” such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas. But Rohani’s government argues it is particularly vital after the United States walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.
The other parties to the deal — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — have sought to salvage the agreement and maintain trade with Iran, but have demanded that it accede to the FATF.
Last month, the FATF gave Iran another extension to February to update its laws.
"Neither I nor the president can guarantee that all problems will go away if we join (the UN convention), but I guarantee that not joining will provide the U.S. with more excuses to increase our problems,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif during the parliament debate last month.
A previous bill on the mechanics of monitoring and preventing terrorist financing was signed into law in August.
Opponents of the bill say membership in the FATF will only make the country vulnerable to outside meddling.
They say Iran's implementation of FATF standards so far has not only failed to attract investment, but it has also exposed various institutions to extraterritorial regulations and penalties.
The FATF cannot impose sanctions, but individual states that are its members have used the group's reports to take punitive measures against their adversaries. As a result, Iran has been targeted by U.S. and European sanctions.
Iran has already been implementing a domestic anti-money laundering law as part of its efforts toward financial transparency. Additionally, it has long been combating terror financing.
The council, which oversees legislation passed by the parliament, said aspects of the bill were against Islamic law and the constitution and sent it back to lawmakers for revision.
"The Guardian Council has in several sessions reviewed the bill... and it has considered it to have flaws and ambiguities,” wrote spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaie on Twitter.
The bill, narrowly passed by parliament on Oct. 7, is one of four put forward by the government of President Hassan Rohani in order to meet demands set by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which purportedly monitors countries’ efforts to tackle money-laundering and terrorist financing.
Many critics in Iran say the laws would limit the country’s ability to support "resistance groups” such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas. But Rohani’s government argues it is particularly vital after the United States walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions.
The other parties to the deal — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — have sought to salvage the agreement and maintain trade with Iran, but have demanded that it accede to the FATF.
Last month, the FATF gave Iran another extension to February to update its laws.
"Neither I nor the president can guarantee that all problems will go away if we join (the UN convention), but I guarantee that not joining will provide the U.S. with more excuses to increase our problems,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif during the parliament debate last month.
A previous bill on the mechanics of monitoring and preventing terrorist financing was signed into law in August.
Opponents of the bill say membership in the FATF will only make the country vulnerable to outside meddling.
They say Iran's implementation of FATF standards so far has not only failed to attract investment, but it has also exposed various institutions to extraterritorial regulations and penalties.
The FATF cannot impose sanctions, but individual states that are its members have used the group's reports to take punitive measures against their adversaries. As a result, Iran has been targeted by U.S. and European sanctions.
Iran has already been implementing a domestic anti-money laundering law as part of its efforts toward financial transparency. Additionally, it has long been combating terror financing.