FATF bill going through its legal path like other bills: senior cleric

Tehran, Oct 19, IRNA – FATF bill’s consideration is undergoing its legal procedure like any other bill and there is no need to turn the country’s atmosphere stormy and anxious, said Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. Addressing a large crowd of worshippers in the Iranian capital, Ayatollah Khatami said that the international organizations are not reliable. The executive secretary of FATF has openly said that there is no guarantee to remove Iran from the black list, the Ayatollah said, asking, “When there is no guarantee, why should we suffocate ourselves with this execution cord?” He said that the FATF bill, passed by the Parliament, has two other stages to turn into a law. It also needs to be approved by the Guardian Council and then if the Parliament was not satisfied, the Expediency Council will decide about the bill, the Ayatollah said. He called on both those, who are in favor of the bill and those who oppose it, not to get anxious. “The country’s affairs will get nowhere through anxiety, and FATF bill is going through its legal path like any other bill.” He warned that the thieves, who were pushed out of the door of the country 40 years ago, are aiming to enter the country again through such international regulations as FATF. Ayatollah Khatami also touched on the recent abduction of 12 Iranian border guards near the Iran-Pakistan border point of Mirjaveh, and called on Foreign Ministry to inform the Pakistani officials that it is not the norm of good neighborliness that terrorists use their country as a safe haven. More efforts need to be made to prevent such events, and if necessary, the terrorists should be destroyed through joint cooperation of Iran and Pakistan, the Ayatollah said. On murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Ayatollah Khatami said the crime has turned into the world’s number one issue, which has shaken the throne of Al-Saud dynasty and disclosed the nature of the regime. The US makes every effort to cover up the case of Khashoggi murder, and the Saudi government is ready to spend billions of dollars in this regard, he added. The Ayatollah said the world has seen just one of the crimes of the Saudi regime and turned a blind eye to other crimes of Al-Saud. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Saudi crimes in Yemen, with 12 million Yemenis on the verge of starvation, he said. However, he noted that the US does not care for Saudi Arabia, seeking to earn tens of billions of dollars out of the country.