TEHRAN, Iran: Iran has ratified a law to join the United Nations International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Iranian media reported on Wednesday, a move Tehran hopes will ease its isolation from global banking and relieve pressure on its sanctions-hit economy.
The law was promulgated by President Masoud Pezeshkian after approval by parliament and endorsement by the Expediency Council, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
The measure is part of a broader effort to comply with standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures.
Iran’s accession is conditional, officials emphasised, and will be implemented “within the framework of the constitution and national laws,” Iran International cited Expediency Council spokesman Mohsen Dehnavi as saying.
The council clarified that where any provision of the convention conflicts with domestic legislation, national law will take precedence, a move that could limit the immediate impact of accession on international engagement.
In a formal decree, President Pezeshkian instructed the judiciary, the ministries of interior, intelligence, justice, foreign affairs and economy, and the Central Bank to implement the law in line with national regulations, Iran International reported.
Reaching for unfrozen banking ties
Reformists and moderates in Tehran see alignment with FATF-related instruments as a necessary step to reconnect Iran with the international banking system and boost trade, particularly with key partners such as Russia and China.
Iranian lawmaker Mahdi Shariari told ILNA (Iranian Labour News Agency) earlier this month that non-membership in the FATF and the CFT had “created difficulties” in commerce.
Iran was placed back on the FATF’s list of high-risk, non-cooperative jurisdictions in 2020, a designation that has compounded the impact of heavy international sanctions — mainly from the United States — and constrained Tehran’s access to global finance.
FATF engagement resumes
Iranian media said Tehran was seeking to show progress at the FATF’s plenary meeting in Paris on October 22–24.
Iran’s Financial Intelligence Unit chief, Hadi Khani — who also serves as deputy economy minister and secretary of Iran’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Council — travelled to Paris to attend the plenary, IRNA reported.
Khani is expected to brief FATF members on legislative and implementation steps and to outline Iran’s recent approvals, including conditional accession to the UN Palermo Convention on transnational organised crime, which Tehran cleared in May and which the Expediency Council also endorsed.
Analysts, cited by Iranian media, say joining the CFT and Palermo Convention could ease some friction with foreign banks but will not in itself lift sanctions.
International authorities and some governments will scrutinise Tehran’s follow-through and the practical effect of the declared domestic safeguards.
