No Reason for Iran to fear FATF blacklisting: Official

Head of the Iran World Trade Center Mohammad Reza Sabzalipour shrugged off a decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to blacklist Tehran, saying there is no reason for the country to fear the move because it has already been targeted by the most severe sanctions.

Speaking to Tasnim news agency, Sabzalipour pointed to the Friday decision by the Paris-based antiterrorism monitoring group to place Iran on its blacklist and said, “I have to say clearly that nothing special would happen to our economy.”

If Iran was a country that had not been in an economic war with the US and the West and had economic relations with all countries around the world without any restrictions, then the move would have led to the collapse of the country’s economy, he added.

However, countries like Iran, which has been under 40 years of worst political and economic sanctions and pressures in various economic areas, including oil, shipping, insurance, and travel, have nothing to lose, the official went on to say. 

The FATF voted on Friday to place Iran on its blacklist for what it claimed failing to comply with international anti-terrorism financing norms, according to media reports.

Iran has already been implementing a domestic anti-money laundering law as part of its efforts toward financial transparency. Additionally, it has long been combating terror financing.

ME