Iranian Journalist and Khamenei Representative Hossein Shariatmadari: FATF-CFT Would Be Disaster for Iran, Would Require Us to Shut Down Missile Program, Defund IRGC, Important Government Ministries

Iranian journalist Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, said in an interview with Iran’s Young Journalists Club (YJC) that was uploaded to the Internet on February 19, 2019 that agreeing to the CFT (Combating Financing of Terrorism) guidelines of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would be a disaster for Iran because Iran would not have the right to determine its own definition of terrorism. He explained that since the West considers many of Iran’s government bodies to be terrorist organizations, joining CFT would require Iran to defund the IRGC, the Quds Force, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, as well as shut down its entire missile program. Shariatmadari is Khamenei’s official representative at Kayhan and the manager of Kayhan Institute, which owns the Kayhan newspaper.

Following are excerpts:

Interviewer: Are you saying that joinig the [FATF CFT] would be bad for the country?

Hossein Shariatmadari: Joining it would be a disaster for the country, not just bad for it. Permit me to… The CFT… Combating Financing of Terrorism – we accept that. Regarding financing of terrorism… We were the primary ones fighting terrorism, but the argument is about the definition of terrorism. We say that we should define it ourselves. How does the [West] define terrorism? By their definition… Yes, Al-Qaeda are terrorists. ISIS are terrorists, though we will ignore the fact that they help it behind the scenes…

Interviewer: But Iran said that it reserves the right to make its own definitions.

Hossein Shariatmadari: But look at the website of the America Treasury. [According to them,] the IRGC are terrorists, the Quds Force are terrorists, [Iran's] Defense Ministry are terrorists, the Intelligence Ministry are terrorists, and even the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance are terrorists. What can you do with them?

Interviewer: Okay, so Iran says that it reserves the right to make its own definition…

Hossein Shariatmadari: And they said that we have this right. [However,] FATF released an official nine-section memo saying that it does not recognize this right – and they are right.

[…]

[The Vienna Agreement] says that you can make your own definitions only when it does not contradict the spirit of the agreement. Here, FATF says that the matter in question is terrorism. Therefore, FATF has officially stated that Iran does not have the right to define what terrorism is because [a different definition] would contradict the spirit of the accord.

[…]

Interviewer: Some ask: Why shouldn't Iran accept this when all the other countries of the world have already accepted it?

Hossein Shariatmadari: Because all of the world's countries are not fighting in this great war [against terrorism].

[…]

If we join the CFT, we will have to stop funding the Quds Force, the IRGC, the Defense Ministry, the Intelligence Ministry, and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

[…]

If we approve the FATF and the CFT and adhere to them, there will be no need… We would have to shut down our entire missile program. We would have to shut it all down.