BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20. The resumption of French car manufacturing companies in Iran depends on the status of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a member of Iran-France Joint Chamber of Commerce Mohammad Reza Najafimanesh told ILNA, Trend reports.
The official noted that during the sanctions period, the import of fully manufactured cars from France to Iran is prohibited. However, French companies may return to Iran and produce other cars, such as the Tondar 90 model.
“Of course, French car manufacturing companies are waiting for the final result of the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan signed between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the US, the UK, France and Germany) regarding Iran's nuclear program and the removal of Iran from the FATF blacklist. If these issues are resolved, there is no doubt that French car manufacturing companies will resume operations in Iran,” he added.
According to Najafimanesh, as long as Iran remains on the FATF blacklist, French companies will not come to Iran. Because in this case, financial and banking exchanges with the French side will not be possible. Based on this, French companies are waiting for what steps will be taken at the international level.
“It should also be noted that there is no prohibition by Iran for French companies to invest into the country. In general, if foreign car manufacturing companies are encouraged to invest in Iran's car market, and if they produce cars in the country, it will greatly help Iran's economy,” he said.
The official pointed out that currently, Iran does not have any ban on car imports from India, Brazil, China, South Korea and Japan. However, the main issue is how much currency to exchange with the mentioned countries. Because the amount of currency for car imports is allocated by the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection with Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November of the same year.
To preserve the agreements reached as part of the JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019 that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on Sept.5.
On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the number of its commitments within JCPOA.
The US imposed new sanctions on Iran in November 2018. Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets abroad.
The objectives of FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory, and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
During the recent FATF meeting, Iran has been warned that it may be added to the list of non-cooperative countries within three months if it does not completely fulfill the FATF requirements. Iran fulfilled 37 of 41 FATF requirements. The remaining four requirements refer to the legislative field.
The amendments to the Counter-Terrorist Financing Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo), and International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) were prepared by the Iranian government and sent to the parliament.
Although the four conventions have been approved and sent to the Expediency Council of Iran, the CFT and Palermo conventions have not yet been ratified by the Council.
FATF was established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 Group to combat money laundering. FATF has 37 members and its secretariat is in Paris.
Iran was included in the FATF blacklist in 2007. The anti-Tehran steps have been taken since 2009. Thus, the countries were cautious in their financial and banking transactions with Iran.
Taking reciprocal steps against Iran through diplomatic steps has been postponed since 2016. FATF included Iran on the blacklist again on Feb. 21, 2020.
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