A few days after the extension of Iran’s deadline for passing the Financial Action Task Force bills  against money laundering and sponsorship of terrorism, Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri said on Tuesday: “Due to the FATF and CFT bills being passed in the meeting between the heads of three branches of government and the approval of the supreme leader, the Expediency Discernment Council must pass these bills as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, in response to Jahangiri’s comments, Mesbahi Moghaddam, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council told ISNA: “Nothing new has occurred in the Expediency Discernment Council regarding the FATF bills and the supreme leader has not issued any orders on this matter.”

On Monday, a government spokesman said: “If the FATF bills are not passed, we will be blacklisted, and our banking system abroad will be completely shut down.”

Three days ago, the Financial Action Task Force extended Iran’s deadline for passing the bills regarding anti-money laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) for four months.

The FATF issued a statement warning Iran that if the bills are not passed in four months, the Taskforce will call on its members to take action against Iran. FATF had previously extended Iran’s deadline several times.

Most of those who oppose the bills are close to the leader of the Islamic Republic and they are concerned that these bills will prevent Iran from financially supporting groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.