Off the wire
• Peng Liyuan and wives of G20 summit leaders visit China Academy of Art  • Interview: Chinese premier's tour significant to East Asia integrity, China-Laos partnership -- ambassador  • Exports in Macedonia up by 5.6 pct in Jan-July  • Roundup: Taliban claims responsibility for twin blasts in Kabul  • Interview: U.S. actress Dakota Fanning says Brimstone role her "new adventure"  • Peng Liyuan attends anti-AIDS activity with G20 leaders' wives  • HK voters elect 70 legislators for 6th term Legislative Council  • Tehran, London promote ties by exchanging ambassadors  • Spanish king rules out talks with party leaders amid political deadlock  • Xinhua Insight: From Beijing APEC to Hangzhou G20: China's rise as a responsible power  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: Iran says FATF agreement will not harm national interests

Xinhua, September 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed concerns over the agreement with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Monday, saying it would not harm the country's interests.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, rejected concerns that Iran's work with the FATF might limit cooperation between Iranian banks and local and international revolutionary entities.

Some media sources claimed that, under the FATF agreement, Iran must make public its financial information to the international institution.

This is "wrong," and "we reject that," Qasemi said in his weekly press briefing.

Furthermore, Iran's support to some revolutionary entities like the Lebanese Hezbollah is completely separate from Iran's agreement with the FATF, he said, adding that Hezbollah is a regional political party which is not regarded as a terrorist organization by Iran.

Therefore, there ought to be no concerns over Iran's cooperation with the FATF as Iran's international financial transactions are "transparent," Qasemi said.

Last Saturday, local media reported that two state banks, Mellat and Sepah, refused to deal with a company affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Recently, Mellat bank refused to transfer foreign currency for one of IRGC's companies, Khatam al-Anbia, Iran's largest contractor of government construction projects, reported the daily Kayhan.

The report added that Sepah bank also declined to issue a letter of guarantee for Khatam al-Anbia due to the international sanctions placed on the company.

The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Valiollah Seif, stressed that Iran will keep people's banking information confidential during transactions with the FATF, Press TV reported.

The CBI will be the only authority to determine instances of money-laundering and terrorism-related finances, he was quoted as saying.

The objectives of the FATF, an inter-governmental body established in 1989, are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, financing of terrorists and other related issues threatening the integrity of the international financial system.

Following Iran's international nuclear program deal last year, several major financial and economic sanctions were lifted upon Iran.

However, Iran complained it cannot benefit the agreement's economic privileges.

According to media outlets, the FATF, which monitors money laundering worldwide, decided in June to keep Iran on its blacklist of "high-risk countries, but welcomed Iranian promises to improve, and called for a one-year suspension of some restrictions on Tehran." Endit