The recent decision by the global financial watchdog to extend the suspension of its countermeasures against Iran indicates that it seeks to avoid a deadlock with Iran, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.
This, according to Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, shows that the watchdog does not wish to close all the doors on Iran.
“The case will be reviewed in Iran and whatever would be in the interest of the nation will be decided,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
The Financial Action Task Force, an international body that monitors money laundering and terrorism financing worldwide, has urged Iran to bring itself into line with its norms, otherwise it would be listed among non-cooperative countries, making international industries and investors reluctant to do business with the country.
It gave Tehran a deadline until October 2018, later extending it until February 2019.
Iranian legislative bodies, however, failed to reach a consensus over all FATF-related bills, further delaying their approval.
On Friday, the task force announced that it has suspended countermeasures for another four months until June, recognizing the country’s efforts in meeting its Action Plan to implement the required reforms.
“We don’t claim that compliance with FATF standards will solve all the country’s problems, but it could at least help alleviate them and normalize conditions,” a city councilor says
The global community is pushing Iran to pass the reforms while Iranian officials refuse to act hastily to ensure the modifications would not be against national interests.
Maintaining international trade is crucial to Iran at present since American sanctions have already restricted the country’s global business and crippled its domestic economy.
FATF Importance
After the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, the European Union, another party to the agreement, felt obliged to protect Iran’s interests to salvage the accord.
Its most essential measure was the special purpose vehicle known as INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges), which was recently registered jointly by France, Germany and Britain (also known as E3), although after a delay.
The instrument aims to facilitate trade with Iran through a non-dollar system to bypass US sanctions.
However, the E3 statement has called on Iran to “swiftly implement all elements of its FATF action plan” as the mechanism would function under its standards.
Although the phrase has not been stated as a precondition, a group of experts, including Morteza Alviri, a Tehran City Councilor, believe that the refusal to adopt the reforms would mean that “Europe’s cooperation should be totally forgotten”, IRNA reported.
“Even friendly countries would not be able to work with us,” he said, warning that conditions would become worse.
“We don’t claim that compliance with FATF standards will solve all the country’s problems, but it could at least help alleviate them and normalize conditions,” he said.
Alviri also said the reluctance to use Europe’s financial mechanism would mean “intensifying sanctions with our own hands”.
The Central Bank of Iran has also welcomed FATF’s move, hoping that the remaining bills would be finalized soon.
It said in a statement on Friday that in order to show its goodwill, it will soon introduce the corresponding entity to match INSTEX.
For INSTEX to become operational, it is essential for Iran to “create an effective and transparent corresponding entity”, according to the statement.