Iran moves closer to compliance with global dirty money watchdog’s rules

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DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s top arbitration body has approved a bill that could help remove Tehran from the blacklist of a global financial crime watchdog, state media reported on Wednesday, potentially advancing efforts to widen trade and investment opportunities.

Iran has been on the blacklist of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force since 2020, after failing to comply with international standards on anti-terrorism financing and fighting organised crime.

The presence of the sanctions-hit country on the list has deepened its isolation from financial markets.

Iran’s Expediency Council approved the Palermo Convention against transnational organised crime in the framework of local laws, state media said.

The council said it will study joining the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) bill in upcoming sessions.

While foreign businesses say Iran’s compliance with FATF rules is essential if it wants to attract investors, Iranian authorities are divided over the merits of such a step.

Iran’s moderate government supports compliance, as it could ease foreign trade with Europe and Asia at a time when the country’s economy is targeted by U.S. sanctions.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said in 2024 that Tehran had no choice but to “fix issues” related to FATF.

In contrast, hardliners in the Islamic Republic argue that passing legislation to abide by FATF standards could hamper Iran’s support for its paramilitary allies around the region, including Lebanon’s Shi’ite militant Hezbollah group.

The Expediency Council is a body that mediates in disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Elwely Elwelly, Editing by William Maclean)