‘No need’ for Iran to join global agreements – Ayatollah Khamenei

Iran has “no need to join” global agreements on areas such as terrorism and money laundering, the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday. The issue divides Iran’s parliament. According to Khamenei, lawmakers “must independently make legislation on issues such as terrorism or combating money laundering.” He told a gathering of MPs that “some of the provisions of international conventions may be good but there’s no need to join these conventions,” AFP reported. Khamenei cautioned against signing up to global conventions when “we are not aware of the depth of their aims or [when] we know that they have problems.” Earlier this month, Iran’s parliament voted to suspend discussion of joining the UN Terrorism Financing Convention for two months. Tehran is waiting to see whether its nuclear deal with world powers survives after the US pulled out of the accord.