SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran's Khamenei says 'no need' to join global agreements
Tehran, June 20 (AFP) Jun 20, 2018
Iran has "no need to join" global agreements on areas such as terrorism and money laundering, the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday as the issue divides parliament.

Describing parliament as "mature and wise", Khamenei said lawmakers "must independently make legislation on issues such as terrorism or combating money laundering".

"Of course some of the provisions of international conventions may be good but there's no need to join these conventions, citing these provisions," the supreme leader told a gathering of MPs, according to his official website.

Khamenei cautioned against signing up to global conventions when "we are not aware of the depth of their aims or (when) we know that they have problems."

Earlier this month Iran's parliament voted to suspend discussion of joining the UN Terrorism Financing Convention for two months, as Tehran waits to see whether its nuclear deal with world powers survives after the US pulled out of the landmark accord.

Debate among Iranian lawmakers on joining such global agreements is often furious, with conservatives warning signing up to the terrorism financing accord would cut off Iranian support to key regional allies Hezbollah and Hamas.

The military wings of both groups are designated as terrorist organisations by the United States and European Union, among others.

But the government has argued international cooperation is essential to confront terrorist groups which have targeted the country.

Iran's commitment to the UN convention is a condition for being removed from the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a spot shared with North Korea.

Being on the blacklist of the inter-governmental body has added to Iran's woes in accessing global banking.

Iran's struggle to access international markets has been further compounded by the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

The remaining parties to the accord -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have committed to staying in the deal.

But their companies risk falling foul of US sanctions if they continue to do business with Iran.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Private capital targets mission-critical software power and platforms in new space economy
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Uranus and Neptune may be rock rich worlds

24/7 Energy News Coverage
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus
South Africa's informal miners fight for their future in coal's twilight
China's smaller manufacturers look to catch the automation wave

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
UK's new military chief to stress Russian threat; Royal navy tracked Russian sub in Channel
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle

24/7 News Coverage
Indonesia flood death toll passes 1,000 as authorities ramp up aid
US agency wipes climate change facts from website: reports
Kennedy's health movement turns on Trump administration over pesticides



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.