Iran’s Efforts To Exit F.A.T.F. Blacklist Driven By National Interests: Official

The Secretary of the High Council for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing says Iran's efforts to normalize its case with the Financial Action Task Force (F.A.T.F.) are aimed at securing national interests and strengthening international networking, and not to appease the enemies.

Hadi Khani made the remarks on Tuesday, rejecting the notion that the process to leave the F.A.T.F. is the impact of the recent Israeli-U.S. war against Iran.

The Islamic Republic in recent years, especially the current administration, have made efforts with regard to the F.A.T.F. file, in the form of approving numerous laws and regulations or high level decisions, he explained.

Khani said that the country’s efforts on the F.A.T.F. is not to prevent the hostility of the U.S. and Israel but to improve Iran’s economic situation and facilitate international trade and financial transactions.

“We have been at war with the United States and Israel for more than 45 years,” he underlined, saying that even when meetings were held to ratify the Palermo and C.F.T. conventions, the possibility of a military attack on the country was imminent.

Stating that the enemies want Iran to be excluded from international platforms, he applauded the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (S.C.O.) for raising concerns about the F.A.T.F. blacklist of Iran within the framework of their own interests, not the United States as “we should not forget Trump's order to the Treasury Department to keep Iran on the blacklist.”

We were seeking to remove the unjust label of money laundering and financing of terrorism because our nation itself is a victim of terrorism and has been combating money laundering, Khani noted.

The F.A.T.F. blacklist status imposes restrictions on financial institutions dealing with Iran, hindering economic activity and limiting access to global markets.