The Council of Guardians has rejected the bill on Iran’s accession to the convention against funding of terrorism (CFT), sending the bill back to Parliament for further discussions and amendments.

Iran Press/Iran news: The spokesman for the Guardian Council, Abbasali Kadkhodaei, wrote in a tweet on Sunday that the Council has found flaws and ambiguities with the bill on Iran’s accession to the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism, also known as Terrorist Financing Convention.

The bill was approved by Iran’s Parliament on October 7 as part of efforts to oblige the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to remove the country from its blacklist.

Related news:

FM Spokesman: FATF’s deadline extension indicates power of Iran's diplomacy

Iran MP: "We reject FATF, a foreign organisation, telling us how to amend our domestic legislation"

The bill was submitted to the Guardian Council to either pass it into law or suggest amendments and sent it back to the lawmakers for reconsideration.

According to Kadkhodaei, the Guardian Council has found some instances that were either against Iran’s Islamic (Sharia) law and Constitution, or contained ambiguities, Mehr News Agency reported.

The Guardian Council found over 20 instances of flaws and ambiguities which needed to be rectified.

The Parliament is now tasked with making the necessary amendments to the bill in order to resubmit it to the Council of Guardians.

Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) involves investigating, analyzing, deterring and preventing sources of funding for terrorist activities. The CFT bill is one of four bills connected to The Financial Action Task Force (FATF). 

What is FATF?

Individuals and organizations who finance terrorism need to conceal how the money will be used and where it originated. The funds may come from legal sources, such as the US government, or the government of Saudi Arabia, or the government of United Arab Emirates, or the funds may come from illegal sources, such as drug trafficking (in Afghanistan) and government corruption. The funds may also come from an illegal source but appear to come from a legal source through money laundering. Money laundering and terrorism financing are often linked.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.

 

Read more:

Majlis votes to approve bill to join Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)

Leader's response to Larijani letter on CFT read out in Majlis

CFT amendment bill signed in to law by Rouhani