Iran News Round Up

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Iranian lawmakers to “legislate independently” on bills related to Iran’s adherence to international protocols during a meeting with parliamentarians on June 20. Khamenei suggested that Parliament should pass its own legislation to counter illicit activities instead of passing legislation that is “problematic.” The Supreme Leader’s remarks were in reference to pending parliamentary bills over the approval of safeguards that would make Iran compliant with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) items related to financial transparency, terror financing, and money laundering. Parliament suspended voting over legislation that would have necessitated Iran’s adherence to the FATF for a period of two months on June 10. Hardliners voiced opposition to the parliamentary legislation. Failure to ratify the necessary legislation to comply with FATF conventions may result in the FATF blacklisting Iran and would further stymie international companies and banks from conducting business with Iran. (Khamenei.ir)

Foreign Ministry Senior Advisor for Special Political Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari participated in a meeting with UN, Russian, and Turkish officials to discuss the formation of a Syrian constitutional committee on June 19 in Geneva, Switzerland. UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, Russian Special Presidential Envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, and Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Under Secretary Sedat Onal attended the meeting. The UN noted that it will host additional negotiations with Iran, Russia, and Turkey “in the next few weeks.” The Iranian, Russian, and Turkish governments have hosted the Astana Peace Talks parallel to the UN-sponsored Geneva Process since January 2017. (YJC) (United Nations) (E)

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif castigated U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s May 21 list of 12 U.S. demands to Iran in a letter on June 21. Zarif criticized U.S. foreign policy and its proclivity to abandon international, multilateral agreements under the Trump administration. Zarif cited U.S. decisions to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Paris Climate Accord, and most recently, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as examples of abandonment. Zarif ended the letter calling for the U.S. to cease its intervention in Iran’s domestic affairs and for the U.S. to acknowledge “its unwarranted and unlawful actions against the people of Iran” among other demands. (Iran Daily) (E)