TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian government’s efforts to get off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist is spurring attacks against President Hassan Rouhani by primarily conservative forces. Given the agreement to adhere to FATF guidelines, critics say many institutions such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Intelligence and universities such as Sharif University of Technology will effectively be sanctioned by Iranian banks.
They also point out that Iran will have to hand over sensitive banking information about Iranian institutions and individuals to FATF, thus putting the country’s security at risk. These attacks were intensified following a Sept. 2 report in hard-line Kayhan daily that featured images of two letters showing that Iranian banks had refused to provide banking services to IRGC-linked organizations.