On October 7, 2018, Iran’s Parliament has approved a Bill to counter terrorist financing that was seen as a vital move to salvage the nuclear deal with European and Asian partners.
The Bill which was strongly opposed by conservatives aims to bring Iran’s laws in line with international standards and allow it to join the UN Terrorism Financing Convention.
It is one of the four Bills moved by the government in recent months in a bid to meet demands by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
FATF has given Iran until later this month to tighten its laws against money laundering and terror financing.
“Neither I nor the President can guarantee that all problems will go away if we join (the UN convention),” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during Sunday’s debate.
“But I guarantee that not joining will provide the U.S. with more excuses to increase our problems,” he added.
Earlier this year the U.S. has walked out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and began reimposing sanction.
The other parties to the deal – Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia have also demanded Iran to accede to the FATF.
