Despite limited progress, the regime’s conditional ratification of key UN conventions fails to meet international standards
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced that Iran’s regime will remain on its blacklist for money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, citing the regime’s continued failure to implement key elements of its action plan agreed upon in 2016.
In a detailed statement released on Friday, October 24, the global watchdog said that although Tehran had reported progress in ratifying the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention), the broad reservations it added render the ratification inconsistent with FATF standards.
Earlier this year, Iran regime’s Expediency Council conditionally approved accession to both the Palermo Convention and the Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). Under these conditions, the regime would only implement the conventions within the framework of its domestic laws—effectively undermining the conventions’ core objectives.
Currently, only three countries—Iran, North Korea, and Myanmar—remain on the FATF blacklist, identified as high-risk jurisdictions with serious strategic deficiencies in combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
Opponents of the FATF-related bills within Iran regime’s power structure have repeatedly argued that adopting the conventions would block the regime’s financial support to militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
According to FATF, Iran submitted reports in February 2020, January, August, and December 2024, and again in August 2025, yet failed to demonstrate substantial progress in addressing its deficiencies. The watchdog noted that Iran’s regime was moved from the “gray list” to the “blacklist” in 2020 due to its lack of meaningful action.
FATF also referred to UN Security Council resolutions concerning Iran’s noncompliance with nuclear nonproliferation commitments, warning all jurisdictions to remain vigilant against the risks of proliferation financing stemming from Iran.
Given “the ongoing threats of terrorist and proliferation financing” from the Iranian regime and the incomplete implementation of its action plan, FATF once again urged all countries to apply effective countermeasures against Tehran. These include avoiding the establishment of subsidiaries, branches, or representative offices of Iranian financial institutions, and taking into account the absence of an adequate anti–money laundering and counter–terrorist financing framework in Iran.
The statement reaffirmed that Iran will continue to be listed among “high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action.” FATF added that it would consider next steps—such as suspending countermeasures—only if Iran fully ratifies and implements the Palermo and CFT conventions in line with international standards.
The organization warned that if Tehran continues to stall, further measures could be imposed. FATF “strongly urged” Iran to take immediate action to address the following critical issues:
- Fully criminalize terrorist financing;
- Identify and freeze terrorist assets in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions;
- Establish a robust customer identification regime;
- Demonstrate enforcement against unlicensed money or value transfer services;
- Implement the CFT and Palermo Conventions in line with FATF standards; and
- Ensure financial institutions verify complete originator and beneficiary information in wire transfers.
For nearly a decade, Iran’s regime has avoided genuine reforms demanded by the FATF, choosing instead to maintain opaque financial channels that enable the flow of funds to terrorist proxies and regime-linked entities abroad. The continuation of its blacklisting further isolates Tehran from the global financial system, deepening the regime’s economic and political crisis at home.
