TEHRAN – The Financial Intelligence Center said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has formally invited Iran to direct negotiations for the first time in six years, as the country moves to normalize its status with the global watchdog.

According to the center, the invitation follows Iran’s recent measures against money laundering and terrorism financing, including progress reported to FATF’s regional body over the past two years and the approval of the Palermo Convention by the Expediency Council.

The talks, to be held in Madrid, aim to advance Iran’s case for suspending counter-measures and removing it from FATF’s high-risk “blacklist.”

Iran’s parliament passed the law joining the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in 2017, but the measure was delayed due to objections from the Guardian Council.

The Expediency Council finally ratified it in May 2025, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signed the instrument of ratification on July 30, 2025.

The document was formally sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on August 5, 2025, by Iran’s UN envoy Saeed Iravani.

The Palermo Convention is one of four international agreements FATF requires its members to join.

Iran has already acceded to two of the others, while the process to approve the CFT (Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism) remains ongoing.

Experts say completing the fourth convention could significantly improve Iran’s financial transparency credentials and open the way for greater economic engagement with the world.

EF/MA