Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has urged European countries to take practical steps to keep Tehran in the nuclear deal.
He also invited Iranian parties to accept implementing Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards on countering money laundering and the prevention of terrorist financing.
Zarif announced Tuesday that he would meet with his counterparts in countries remaining in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran deal, next week.
Despite the upcoming meeting, Zarif reiterated his demand for the Europeans to “carry out practical steps” to maintain the agreement, saying that Europeans know well that Iran takes its decisions based on their ability to implement these steps.
Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi also called on the European Union to speed up steps announced to make up for the US exit.
On the other hand, Zarif called on Iranian lawmakers to pass three of the four Iranian government draft resolutions submitted in March, which aim to make it easier for Iran to join international agreements on financial transparency and money laundering and terror funding counter-efforts.
Conservative deputies have pushed against Iran joining the FATF after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced last June his opposition and urged parliamentarians to pass local alternative laws in July.
FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and terror funding.
Last week, Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council opposed a bill set for Iran to join FATF, after a row took place between the conservative body and government officials.
Zarif's call comes less than 10 days after Iranian reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi quoted “credible sources” about Khamenei's recent agreement for Iran to join.
Conservatives standing against the bill propose that Iran joining the international taskforce will expose monetary movement and transactions of the cleric-led regime.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard activity will be exposed and face implications, conservatives argue.
They are mostly concerned for activity pertaining to the Guard’s foreign arm, the Quds Force, which sponsors pro-Iranian armed groups abroad.
Referring to the withdrawal of international companies as a result of fears of the return of US sanctions, Zarif described the pullout as “temporary.”
