Iran Press/ Iran News: "The bill to join the Palermo Convention was rejected in the Supreme Supervisory Board, because it did not comply with the overall general policies of the Islamic Republic," secretary of the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei said in a tweet on Monday.
Rezaei, a prominent member of the Expediency Council --one of the organisations responsible for reviewing and ratifying the Palermo Convention-- further explained that the Guardian Council subsequently recognized the inherent contradictions of the convention (bill) with Article 110 of Iran's Constitution, and this effectively meant the fate of the bill could only be decided by the Expediency Council, Iran Press reported.
Also on Monday, a member of the Expediency Council said that the Council has set aside studies to approve the Palermo bill.
"Palermo and CFT will help the United States identify ways in which we are circumventing the sanctions. We shall never tighten the sanctions on us with our own hands," Rezaei said.
He added, "We are managing the country through circumventing the [US-imposed] sanctions. Approval of these two bills is not wise."
He also said, "The Guardian Council has found faults with this bill and from this council’s point of view, these two bills have not become legal. The Expediency Council has not studied them. So, they are not approved."
The Financial Action Task Force announced in June that Iran had until October to complete reforms that would bring it into line with global norms or face consequences.
One of the actions Iran is required to take to appease the FATF is joining the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), which is also called the Palermo Convention, a 2000 United Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organised crime.
The other action is to ratify the CFT, the convention which seeks to combat financing of terrorism.
On October 7, 2018, the parliament voted in favor of CFT. However, the oversight Guardian Council rejected the bill by finding 22 faults within it.
207/211/216
Read more:
Expediency Council postpones a decision on Palermo bill
Palermo, CFT review postponed till next Iranian year
