Tehran: Iran’s Guardian Council has conditionally approved the country’s accession to the Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), as announced by Mohsen Dehnavi, the council’s spokesperson, on his official X page.
According to Trend News Agency, the Guardian Council held a series of four meetings to scrutinize the convention. These sessions saw participation from Iran’s Experts Council, along with ministers of economic affairs, finance, and foreign affairs, among other officials.
Dehnavi revealed that during these meetings, a joint commission of the Guardian Council thoroughly examined multiple aspects of the CFT convention. Following these discussions, a majority of council members voted in favor of Iran’s parliament joining the International Convention on Combating the Financing of Terrorism.
Previously, on May 15, 2025, Iran’s Advisory Council approved the FATF Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, also known as the Palermo Convention. The Convention against the Financing of Terrorism is currently still under review. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is an intergovernmental body that sets regulations for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. In its last meeting, the FATF warned Iran that without improvement in its program of steps, it could be added to the list of non-cooperative countries. Iran has so far complied with 37 out of 41 FATF steps.
The pending steps or conventions, which include amendments to laws on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as accession to the Palermo Convention and the CFT, have been drafted by the Iranian government and forwarded to the parliament. Although the parliament has approved these four conventions and sent them to the Advisory Council, the council has yet to approve the CFT and Palermo conventions.
The FATF, founded by the G7 in 1989, aims to address issues related to money laundering. It currently has 37 members and is headquartered in Paris. Iran was designated as a high-risk jurisdiction by the FATF in 2007, leading to formal sanctions in 2009. This designation required countries to exercise caution in financial transactions with Iran. Diplomatic efforts since 2016 have delayed the imposition of further actions against Iran. On February 21, 2020, the FATF officially blacklisted Iran as a non-cooperative country.