Money Laundering in Iran

The State Inspectorate’s representative at the Central Bank of Iran spoke about the fight against money laundering in Iran. The representative stated that there were currently no legal mechanisms to fight against money laundering. The official also estimated that 11 billion dollars in dirty money was circulating in the economy. Five years ago the previous president of Iran proposed a bill to fight money laundering that was ratified by parliament, but the Guardian Council, the body appointed by the Supreme Leader that must approve all bills passed by parliament, rejected it as being against Islam. Last week an international financial watchdog, Financial Action Task Force, publicly expressed concerns about the problem of money laundering in Iran.
BBC International Reports (Middle East), “Iran Official Deplores Lack of Legal Mechanism to Fight Money Laundering,” BBC Monitoring Service (Oct. 22, 2007);