The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on 25 June suspended anti-money laundering measures against Iran for a year.

But the task force remains concerned about the Islamic Republic’s use of its financial sector to support criminal enterprises and terrorist funding.

The announcement by FATF is another sign of progress in Tehran’s efforts to restore its position in the global economy after international sanctions were eased in return for Iran softening its nuclear ambitions in recent months.

US differences

At a FATF meeting in South Korea, the US joined 36 other members of the task force to welcome Iran’s commitment to address shortcomings in its anti-money laundering (AML) and countering financing of terrorism (CFT) regimes.

Support from the US for the measure may be seen by Tehran as an encouraging move given Washington’s reluctance to ease its unilateral sanctions on Iran. But the move will alarm some US opponents of the Iran nuclear deal.

Technical assistance

Iran has said it will seek technical assistance to further strengthen its AML and CFT regulations.

The FATF does want to see Iran robustly address its deficiencies, “in particular those related to terrorist financing.”

Warning

Should Iran fail to make sufficient progress over the next 12 months, “FATF’s call for counter-measures will be re-imposed,” according to statement from the task force.

It added that, “if Iran meets its commitments under the action plan in that time period, the FATF will consider next steps.”