Iranian Ministers Send ‘Warning Letter’ to Khamenei on FATF

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei poses before delivering a speech marking Nowruz, Iranian new year, in this handout photo. Reuters
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei poses before delivering a speech marking Nowruz, Iranian new year, in this handout photo. Reuters
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Iranian Ministers Send ‘Warning Letter’ to Khamenei on FATF

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei poses before delivering a speech marking Nowruz, Iranian new year, in this handout photo. Reuters
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei poses before delivering a speech marking Nowruz, Iranian new year, in this handout photo. Reuters

Several ministers in the government of President Hassan Rouhani have signed and sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei requesting his help to finalize anti-corruption legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The ministers demanded the urgent discussion of the government proposal by the Expediency Council, which has powers to approve Iranian bills.

In their letter, the ministers warned from the negative consequences of Iran’s delay in joining the “Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime” or Palermo and the “International Terrorist Financing Convention” known as CFT.

Media reports uncovered on Tuesday that the ministers could resign if the window for joining the international task force combating terror funding and financial corruption is closed down.

The FATF has given Iran a February deadline to complete the necessary reforms for its membership and to be removed from its blacklist.

The minister of labor and welfare, Mohammad Shariatmadari, confirmed on Tuesday that several ministers have written a letter to Khamenei requesting his help in speeding up the process of joining FATF.

The Expediency Discernment Council, which Iranian deputies hope will reassert its support for passing the CFT, is also almost entirely molded by Khamenei, who once every five years elects 44 of the body’s members.

Last Monday, the Iranian parliament failed in gaining the ultra-conservative Guardian Council’s approval for Iran joining the FATF, leaving the dispute to be settled by Tehran’s Expediency Council.

If Tehran fails to secure its FATF membership, it risks stringent and suffocating international measures striking the Iranian financial and banking sector.

The FATF is an international watchdog with objectives to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.



Pro-Palestinian NGOs Sue Dutch Gov't over Israel Support

A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
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Pro-Palestinian NGOs Sue Dutch Gov't over Israel Support

A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)

Pro-Palestinian groups took the Dutch state to court Friday, urging a halt to arms exports to Israel and accusing the government of failing to prevent what they termed a genocide in Gaza.

The NGOs argued that Israel is breaking international law in Gaza and the West Bank, invoking, amongst others, the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention set up in the wake of the Holocaust.

"Israel is guilty of genocide and apartheid" and "is using Dutch weapons to wage war", said Wout Albers, a lawyer representing the NGOs.

"Dutch weapons are killing children, every day, in Palestine, including my family," said Ahmed Abofoul, a legal advisor to Al Haq, one of the groups involved in the suit, AFP reported.

Israel furiously denies accusations of genocide as it presses on with the offensive in Gaza it began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

Opening the case at the court in The Hague, judge Sonja Hoekstra noted: "It is important to underline that the gravity of the situation in Gaza is not contested by the Dutch State, nor is the status of the West Bank."

"Today is about finding out what is legally in play and what can be expected of the State, if the State can be expected to do more, or act differently than it is currently acting," she added.

She acknowledged this was a "sensitive case", saying: "It's a whole legal debate."

The lawyer for the Dutch State, Reimer Veldhuis, said the Netherlands has been applying European laws in force for arms exports.

Veldhuis argued the case should be tossed out.

"It is unlikely that the minister responsible will grant an arms export licence to Israel that would contribute to the Israeli army's activities in Gaza or the West Bank," said Veldhuis.