The Islamic Republic’s Minister of Economy, Farhad Dezhpasand, warned that “after the deadline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for passing the bills against money laundering and financing terrorism, Iran will enter FATF’s blacklist.”

FATF recently extended the Islamic Republic’s deadline to pass these bills for the sixth time, but warned that after these four months, it will call on its members to take actions against Iran.

After this statement, discussions among the Islamic Republic officials over joining the FATF intensified and Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri claimed that the leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, has approved of passing the bills, a claim which was denied by some members of parliament and the Expediency Discernment Council.

The minister of economy said on Wednesday: “We asked for extensions several times and they agreed, but this time they warned us that it will be the last deadline and there will be no more extensions.”

“Our deadline is less than four months. One month before the main meeting, there will be a preliminary summit where we must present a report of our work to be reviewed,” said Dezhpasand.

He added: “Naturally, if the job is not done by that deadline, we will automatically enter the blacklist and we must write an action plan in order to get out of it, which could make our situation even more difficult.”

The minister also mentioned that the anti-money laundering bill has been drafted and was approved by the head of the Judiciary and the government. But the conventions to fight organized international crimes and terrorism still remain to be approved.