Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, accused the president, the government and “certain media” of pressuring the Council to pass the FATF bills.

In his Friday speech, Mesbahi Moghadamcriticized President Rouhani, saying: “What is this pressure that they are putting on us to pass these bills. Our current condition is that we sell our oil by evading sanctions and bring the resulting currency into our country. This is what Mr.Zangeneh (Oil minister) says. In order to evade sanctions, we have to register shell corporations in Iran and other countries to do international trade deals. Now passing the CFT and Palermo means that we have to stop such practices. I say no to joining such conventions! We have the regime's interest at heart, not desires and whims.”

He also criticized Europe in another part of his speech, saying: “Europe pledged to provide 12 strategies for trade with Iran. They have not taken a single step.”

The fate of the last two of the four FATF bills is tied to the decision of the Expediency Discernment Council, and it is not clear when they will reach their final decision. In its last session this year, the council postponed the decision for a month.

At least 20 of the council members who are all close to the leader have announced their opposition to the bills.