BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 26. Discussions between Iran and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will continue at the expert level, Secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Hadi Khani told local media, Trend reports.
According to him, discussions at the FATF meeting indicated the working group’s interest in reaching a new agreement with Iran. The FATF is closely monitoring Iran’s two-pronged program aimed at reforming legislation in line with international standards and demonstrating its effective implementation.
Khani added that Iran has taken the first step by ratifying the Palermo and CFT conventions. Iran's discussions with FATF on proving the implementation of these conventions are in the spotlight.
The Iranian official said that, in principle, the ratification of the Palermo Convention as one of the 41 provisions of the step program is at the level of leaving the "black list".
Iran's mutual understanding with FATF to resolve its several-year-old problem has begun recently and will develop day by day.
"Since the CFT convention in Iran was approved after the report was sent to the FATF, practically only the Palermo convention was discussed at the last meeting. Since Iran has conditions on this convention and additional legal studies are needed, Iran's documents on these conditions were accepted," he explained.
Mentioning the 'snapback' mechanism of the FATF statement, which envisages the restoration of UN resolutions against Iran, Khani pointed out that the FATF's capabilities are intended to be used when UN Security Council resolutions are adjusted and approved. FATF expressed its position on this issue solely within the framework of the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions.
On May 15, 2025, the Iranian Advisory Council approved the FATF Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo). The Convention against the Financing of Terrorism (FT) is currently under review.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is an intergovernmental body that regulates the rules for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. At the last meeting of this organization, Iran was warned that if the country's program of steps is not improved, Iran may be added to the list of non-cooperative countries. Iran has complied with 37 out of 41 FATF steps.
The remaining four steps or conventions fall under the scope of the legislation. "Amendments to the Law on Combating Money Laundering," "Amendments to the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism," "Accession to the International Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo)," and "Accession to the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)" have been drafted by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament. Although the four conventions were approved by the parliament and sent to the Advisory Council, the CFT conventions and the Palermo Convention have not yet been approved by the mentioned council.
The G7 group founded the FATF in 1989 to address money laundering. The organization comprises 37 members, with its administration situated in Paris.
The FATF designated Iran as a high-risk jurisdiction in 2007 and enacted formal sanctions on Tehran in 2009. Consequently, nations needed to exercise prudence in financial and banking transactions with Iran. Since 2016, diplomatic initiatives have postponed the implementation of retaliatory actions against Iran.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) designated Iran as a non-cooperative country (blacklist) on February 21, 2020.