Efforts to import vaccines to fight the deadly coronavirus pandemic have so far been in vain due to blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, the government spokesman told reports in Tehran on Tuesday.
"With regard to the payment, several attempts to transfer money failed due to [non-compliance with] FATF standards and [US] sanctions," Ali Rabi'ie told a virtual press conference, IRNA reported.
He said not accepting FATF norms has hurt Iran's financial transactions "even at times when the US sanctions are not an obstacle."
Rabi'ie, however, stressed that the Rouhani administration is determined to buy the vaccine even if the payment risks are high. He did not elaborate.
"They created obstacles in transferring money to the World Health Organization. But our contract with WHO is still valid. We have decided to import irrespective of payment risks.”
Earlier in the week, Ali Motahari, a former lawmaker, said the government had tried but failed to transfer $50 million for the vaccine due to restrictions for Iran’s non-compliance with FATF rules.
Senior officials, including governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnasser Hemmati, blame the US under the belligerent Donald Trump for stonewalling the procurement of vaccines for the hard hit nation.
"Buying vaccines must be through Covax and the official WHO channels. All routes for transferring money are blocked due to the vicious US penalties and obligation [of vaccine suppliers] to get permission from OFAC," the senior banker said.
OFAC, or the Office of Foreign Assets Control is the financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department.
Covax is global initiative operating under WHO which brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure the Covid-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need. The initiative strives for fair and equitable distribution of vaccine. Iran said in October that it had joined the Covax initiative.
Despite concerted efforts to produce vaccine inside the country, the government has said it wants to import 18 million doses.
The best Covid-19 vaccine, effective in 95% of the cases, has been developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which employs the latest technology to manufacture an mRNA vaccine that teaches the genetic code of human cells to produce vital proteins that can enable the body to fight the virus.
With the death toll rising to 54,000 and infections surpassing 1.17 million, Iran is grappling with the largest and deadliest plague in the Middle East.
Fate of FATF Bills
Last week, the Expediency Council, Iran’s top legislation vetting body, in a statement confirmed that the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had approved a government request to extend the deadline for discussions on the two remaining bills mandated by the FATF.
The government is struggling to push the bills through the powerful council and is now cautiously optimistic that the US economic siege will end with change in the White House. US president-elect Joe Biden has pledged to return to the historic Iran nuclear deal abandoned by Trump’s America in May 2018.
Last February the global anti-money laundering watchdog lifted the suspension of counter-measures on Iran and called on its members and all jurisdictions to apply effective counter-measures against the country.
FATF has asked Iran to pass four bills as part of the “Action Plan” to get out of its blacklist. Last year the Rouhani administration was able to approve and enact amendments to the counter-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering rules.
But it failed to get approval from the main legislative body for the two remaining bills, namely Palermo (convention against transnational organized crime) and terrorist financing conventions (CFT), despite the fact that the key bills were passed by the government and parliament.
The two remaining bills were not approved by the Guardian Council - a watchdog that ensures laws are in line with the Islamic Republic Constitution and Sharia - and were sent to the Expediency Council for a final decision. EC is a constitutional arbiter between the Majlis and the Guardian Council.
