March 16, 2018
President Rohani has called on Iranian banks to comply with international regulations, even though the Majlis has not yet made all of them law, in order to avoid being blacklisted.
In an apparent reference to the requirements of FATF and UNTOC, he advised banks “you can distance yourself from the blacklist by abiding by these regulations.”
Rohani was referring to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist, an initiative to combat money laundering and terrorism funding, and the regulations contained in the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC).
Iranian hardliners strongly oppose Iran’s joining the FATF and UNTOC, describing membership in them as “treason.” Iran signed the UNTOC in 2000, but the country’s Majlis ratified it only January 24, with 132 votes in favor, 80 against, and 10 abstentions.
The ratification was tied to a January 31 deadline set for Tehran by FATF. But two bills putting into law FATF and UNTOC banking standards are still sitting in the Majlis awaiting action.
At the time of the vote on UNTOC ratification, Hossain-Ali Haji-Deligani, an ultra-conservative Majlis deputy, described the vote as “treason.” His colleague Mojtaba Zon-Nour said the United States could use the convention against Hezbollah, since it accuses the group of being involved in drug trafficking.
Mohammad Nabi-Habibi, the secretary of the Islamic Coalition Party, called the vote equal to “disarming” the Pasdaran and Hezbollah.
Rohani characterized the opposition as “unwise” and “against national interests.”
Rohani previously branded his administration’s opponents as “nouveau riche, illiterate, political cowards, faithless people without identity, stone-age people, retarded, idle elements, jealous and intellectually poor.”
His political rivals harshly criticized him for using these words and reminded him that he had previously criticized “revolutionaries” for using harsh rhetoric.
