Iran ratifies law to join UN convention against terror financing

TEHRAN: Iran ratified a law joining a United Nations convention against terror financing, local media reported Wednesday, in hopes it will lead to access to global banking, an easing of trade and relieving pressure on its sanctions-hit economy.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was elected last year on a promise to ease relations with the West and secure the lifting of sanctions that are hurting the economy.
His administration is trying to bring the country into line with the demands of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors money laundering and terrorist financing.
Tehran has for years provided support to the Palestinian Hamas militant group, Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, and Yemen’s Houthis — all designated as “terrorist” groups by the United States, along with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran was returned to the FATF blacklist of non-cooperative countries in 2020, which includes North Korea and Myanmar.
Along with heavy international sanctions, particularly by the United States, Iran’s inclusion on the blacklist has isolated the country’s financial sector and severely restricted its access to the international banking system.
“President Masoud Pezeshkian has promulgated... the law on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s accession to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT),” Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday.
It is unclear what the immediate economic impact would be if it were removed from the FATF.
Iranian lawmaker Mahdi Shariari said earlier this month that Iran’s non-membership in the FATF and CFT had “created difficulties” in trade, including with key allies Russia and China, according to the pro-labor news agency ILNA.
Reformists and moderates in Tehran view compliance with FATF standards as a vital step toward reconnecting with the international banking system and stabilising the economy.
However, international sanctions remain the primary obstacle to Iran’s global financial and trade activities.
Joining the treaty has been the subject of a heated debate in recent weeks, with ultra-conservatives arguing it could grant “enemy” countries access to sensitive economic and military information, particularly related to Iran’s support of regional militant groups.
Others argue that it will have the effect of stopping Iranian support for the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, two movements classified as “terrorist” by the United States.
Local media reported on Tuesday that an Iranian representative attended an FATF meeting in Paris for the first time in six years.

ANKARA: Constructive” talks last week with senior pro-Kurdish DEM Party leaders — who have urged the idea of Ocalan addressing a parliamentary commission on PKK disarmament — and he urged all actors to contribute.
“It appears we have reached a new crossroads on the path toward a Turkiye free of terrorism,” Erdogan told his ruling AK Party lawmakers. “Everyone needs to step up and do their part.”
“We consider it extremely valuable that ... all relevant parties are heard without leaving anyone out, and that different opinions — even if contrary — are expressed,” he said.
The comments could hint at possible engagement with Ocalan, who has been jailed since 1999 but has played a key role urging his militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve, steps it announced earlier this year.
DEM has said the commission, on which it sits with other parties, should be allowed to engage Ocalan in prison given he remains central to Kurdish public opinion and was involved in previous peace efforts.
Erdogan’s government has not confirmed any such step.
The PKK launched its insurgency in 1984. A previous peace initiative collapsed in 2015, unleashing renewed bloodshed in Turkiye’s southeast. The government has not publicly detailed the framework of the current effort.
Erdogan’s comments came a day after his nationalist ally Devlet Bahceli said it “would be beneficial” to release Selahattin Demirtas, the former pro-Kurdish party leader jailed since 2016.
Bahceli, long hostile to Kurdish political demands, effectively launched the peace process with the PKK when he floated the idea a year ago.
“With a bit more courage and effort, and with God’s permission, we will successfully conclude this process,” Erdogan said.

Iran ratifies law to join UN convention against terror financing