Iran moves closer to compliance with global dirty money watchdog's rules
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's top arbitration body has approved a bill that could help remove Tehran from the blacklist of a global financial crime watchdog, state media reported on Wednesday, potentially advancing efforts to widen trade and investment opportunities.
Iran has been on the blacklist of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force since 2020, after failing to comply with international standards on anti-terrorism financing and fighting organised crime.
The presence of the sanctions-hit country on the list has deepened its isolation from financial markets.
Iran's Expediency Council approved the Palermo Convention against transnational organised crime in the framework of local laws, state media said.
The council said it will study joining the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) bill in upcoming sessions.
While foreign businesses say Iran's compliance with FATF rules is essential if it wants to attract investors, Iranian authorities are divided over the merits of such a step.
Iran's moderate government supports compliance, as it could ease foreign trade with Europe and Asia at a time when the country's economy is targeted by U.S. sanctions.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in 2024 that Tehran had no choice but to "fix issues" related to FATF.
In contrast, hardliners in the Islamic Republic argue that passing legislation to abide by FATF standards could hamper Iran's support for its paramilitary allies around the region, including Lebanon's Shi'ite militant Hezbollah group.
The Expediency Council is a body that mediates in disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The rise in ‘crypto kidnapping' on the streets of France
It is an arrest that will trigger immense, if perhaps short-lived, relief among French cryptocurrency investors and authorities alike. A suspected mastermind behind a raft of kidnappings of executives who own hoards of bitcoins and other crypto-coins was arrested in Tangiers, Morocco, on Tuesday. His Interpol Red Notice profile photo shows one of France's 10 most wanted in the world, a pale, green-eyed 24-year-old with long hair and a beard. The shadow of Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou looms large over the spate of ultra-violent for-ransom kidnappings of French 'crypto millionaires', or members of their family or entourage, across the country. Two of the kidnappings took place in the heart of Paris. Bajjou is suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of cryptocurrency firm Ledger, and his wife in central France, and ordering a gang to chop off the businessman's finger as part of a €10 million (£8.4million) ransom in January. The French-Moroccan national is also accused of being involved in the attempted abduction of the pregnant daughter of a French crypto platform's chief executive, and the kidnapping of a businessman who had his finger chopped off in May. His arrest will offer some respite to the government of Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, and in particular to Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister who is jockeying to run for France's top job in elections in 2027 with a tough-on-crime approach. With the kidnappings becoming a security embarrassment, Mr Retailleau last month met privately with crypto entrepreneurs to discuss their safety and pledged extra safety measures, such as priority access to emergency services and police checks of their home security. However, given the rising number of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs targeted, many are not comforted by the government's pledges, with some already fleeing. One who has already done so is Benjamin Cohen, 31, founder and chief executive of Le Crypto Daily, a YouTube channel and newsletter, who left France for Canada after a series of scares. 'I'm Jewish and I received an anti-Semitic letter threatening to steal my cryptocurrencies and attack me and my family,' he told The Telegraph. 'I was terrified for my loved ones. I realised how unprotected they were here.' Mr Cohen had his drink spiked while at a crypto event at a bar in Paris in which he was showcasing a new ring that doubled up as a 'crypto wallet' containing virtual currency. 'A group of young guys started asking a lot of questions. All of a sudden, the room started turning. I had the good sense to call a taxi despite their offers to drive me home,' he said. 'When I got there, I was out for the count for six hours.' Despite the Morocco arrest, he says he has no intention of returning full time after leaving France in 2022. Mr Cohen said France is seeing a 'rather unsettling era', in which for two, three or five thousand euros 'you can hire a hitman to kill', referring to a series of recent murders involving teenagers who were recruited by a Marseille-based drugs mafia. 'These same for-hire henchmen are apparently now being used for crypto extortion,' said Mr Cohen, who dismissed French government pledges of extra security as 'a bit ridiculous and frankly too light'. But moving abroad does not give Mr Cohen total peace of mind. Last month, his wife woke him at 3am to show him viral footage of a couple desperately fending off a gang who sought to drag the woman into a delivery van until a nearby shopkeeper scared them off with a fire extinguisher. For a few minutes, he thought the target was from his own entourage until it emerged it was the pregnant daughter of Pierre Noizat, chief executive of the Paymium bitcoin exchange. 'For criminals it's a no-brainer to reason that this or that person who has been in crypto for 20 years probably has loads of money and quite often, I'm afraid, it turns out to be the case,' said Mr Cohen. 'It doesn't surprise me at all that there are foreign masterminds, it's the safest option. They call on young accomplices who are barely adults for tiny sums, hundreds of euros, to do their dirty work.' Credit: Reuters A legal source close to the kidnapping cases said: 'It appears the phenomenon of drug trafficking hitmen recruited for small sums via social media, sometimes by high-ranking criminals in detention, is for the first time turning its attention to extortion in the world of crypto around France.' He pointed to the plethora of young recruits prepared to carry out abductions or specific logistical tasks. Some 25 people, including six minors, were charged in Paris over various recent kidnappings, prosecutors said last Saturday. None were over the age of 23. Most of the suspects were born in France and others in Senegal, Angola and Russia. 'These people receive requests on social networks and some heed the call,' said Moad Nefati, lawyer for a 20-year-old suspect. 'They are told it's a simple task, take equipment or transport people, make sure someone is supplied. It doesn't sound like a problematic operation, they are paid very little – between one and four thousand euros – and are not necessarily aware of the risks and stakes, except those directly involved in the abduction. 'For the defence of these young suspects, it's very important that these masterminds are identified.' Bajjou was one of those alleged masterminds wanted for 'abduction, kidnapping or arbitrary detention of a hostage to obtain the execution of an order or condition, committed by an organised gang'. Described as 'extremely determined,' a police source told Le Monde that Bajjou 'has no qualms about violence and is not afraid to use it without warning'. But while Bajjou may be a key player, police suspect he did not command alone. According to Le Parisien, another Franco-Moroccan man in his forties is thought to also have co-operated with Bajjou. Reportedly identified through analysis of cryptocurrency ransom transfer flows, he remains at large. Police are also exploring possible links to other kidnappings or attempted abductions in Paris and western France over the past few weeks. 'Criminals go to where the money is, and we're seeing a huge rise in the price of bitcoin,' said Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, a crypto tracing firm. 'Before, you needed sophisticated cyber capabilities to hack someone, but now you can be a violent criminal who can beat [the password] out of someone,' he told CBS. These so-called 'wrench attacks' have prompted several top entrepreneurs to warn of the 'Mexicanisation of France'. While there have been spectacular recent crypto hostage dramas abroad, 14 out of the 50 attacks that took place over the past year around the world targeting people involved in cryptocurrency were in France, according to Eric Larchevêque, a co-founder of Ledger who was contacted during the Balland hostage drama to send the ransom. Out of the 50 abductions that took place across the globe last year, in which people involved in crypto were targeted, 14 took place in France. 'There's a real problem,' he told broadcaster RTL. In the meantime, Mr Cohen has stepped up security, telling The Telegraph: 'I don't announce publicly when I'm going to turn up to an event, I make sure it's a safe place and don't stay long. I've told my wife to only post a social media story after we've left a venue.' His crypto transfers must be confirmed via video calls above a relatively low amount. 'I've also set a time limit for withdrawing more than £10,000,' he said. Owen Simonin, alias 'Hasheur', one of France's top crypto influencers who has more than 760,000 subscribers on YouTube, concurred. 'There are enough problems in the world of crypto not to have to worry about one's personal safety,' he told The Telegraph. In 2022, he was attacked in his home by an armed stranger who had found his address and tried to extort crypto from him. He pounced on the assailant whose gun turned out to be fake and who later turned himself to police. 'In our world, the threat is no longer virtual.' 'I always try to be accompanied by someone discreet and trained to intervene if necessary,' he recently told Le Parisien. 'Digital hygiene' – leaving no trace of his address or possessions online – is essential. 'While measures can be put in place to reduce fear, it should not exist. Not here. Not in France. It should not weigh on our colleagues, our families and our own lives. Leaving should not be our only option.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
an hour ago
Iranian rapper Tataloo once supported a hard-line presidential candidate. Now he faces execution
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The tattoos covering Iranian rapper Tataloo's face stand out against the gray prison uniform the 37-year-old now wears as he awaits execution, his own rise and fall tracing the chaos of the last decade of Iranian politics. Tataloo, whose full name is Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, faces a death sentence after being convicted on charges of 'insulting Islamic sanctities.' It's a far cry from when he once supported a hard-line Iranian presidential candidate. Tataloo's music became popular among the Islamic Republic's youth, as it challenged Iran's theocracy at a time when opposition to the country's government was splintered and largely leaderless. The rapper's lyrics became increasingly political after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini and the subsequent wave of nationwide protests. He also appeared in music videos which criticized the authorities. 'When you show your face in a music video, you are saying, 'Hey, I'm here, and I don't care about your restrictions,'' said Ali Hamedani, a former BBC journalist who interviewed the rapper in 2005. 'That was brave.' The Iranian Supreme Court last month upheld his death sentence. 'This ruling has now been confirmed and is ready for execution,' judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters at a press conference last month. Activists have decried his looming execution and expressed concern for his safety after he reportedly tried to kill himself in prison. Tataloo began his music career in 2003 as part of an underground genre of Iranian music that combines Western styles of rap, rhythm-and-blues and rock with Farsi lyrics. His first album, released in 2011, polarized audiences, though he never played publicly in Iran, where its Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance controls all concerts. Tataloo appeared in a 2015 music video backing Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and Tehran's nuclear program, which long has been targeted by the West over fears it could allow the Islamic Republic to develop an atomic bomb. While he never discussed the motivation behind this, it appeared that the rapper had hoped to win favor with the theocracy or perhaps have a travel ban against him lifted. In the video for 'Energy Hasteei," or 'Nuclear Energy,' Tataloo sings a power ballad in front of rifle-wielding guardsmen and later aboard the Iranian frigate Damavand in the Caspian Sea. The ship later sank during a storm in 2018. 'This is our absolute right: To have an armed Persian Gulf,' Tataloo sang. Tataloo even issued an endorsement for hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi in 2017. That year, the two sat for a televised appearance as part of Raisi's failed presidential campaign against the relative moderate Hassan Rouhani. Raisi later won the presidency in 2021, but was killed in a helicopter crash in 2024. In 2018, Tataloo — who faced legal problems in Iran — was allowed to leave the country for Turkey, where many Persian singers and performers stage lucrative concerts. Tataloo hosted live video sessions as he rose to fame on social media, where he became well-known for his tattoos covering his face and body. Among them are an Iranian flag and an image of his mother next to a key and heart. Instagram deactivated his account in 2020 after he called for underage girls to join his 'team' for sex. He also acknowledged taking drugs. 'Despite being a controversial rapper, Tataloo has quite the fanbase in Iran, known as 'Tatalities,'' said Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy. 'Over the years, they've flooded social media with messages of solidarity for him and even campaigned for the rapper's release in the past when he was detained on separate charges.' Tataloo's rebellious music struck a chord with disenfranchised young people in Iran as they struggled to find work, get married and start their adult lives. He also increasingly challenged Iran's theocracy in his lyrics, particularly after the death of Amini following her arrest over allegedly not wearing the hijab to the liking of authorities. His collaboration 'Enghelab Solh" — 'Peace Revolution' in Farsi — called out Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by name. 'We don't want tear gas, because there are tears in everyone's eyes,' he rapped. But the music stopped for Tataloo in late 2023. He was deported from Turkey after his passport had expired, and was immediately taken into custody upon arrival to Iran. Tehran's Criminal Court initially handed Tataloo a five-year sentence for blasphemy. Iran's Supreme Court threw out the decision and sent his case to another court, which sentenced him to death in January. The rapper already faced ten years in prison for a string of separate convictions, including promoting prostitution and moral corruption. 'Tataloo is at serious risk of execution,' Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of advocacy group Iran Human Rights, said in a statement. 'The international community, artists and the public must act to stop his execution.' Tataloo earlier expressed remorse at a trial. 'I have certainly made mistakes, and many of my actions were wrong,' he said, according to the state-owned Jam-e Jam daily newspaper. 'I apologize for the mistakes I made.' Tataloo married while on death row, his uncle said. Last month, Tataloo reportedly attempted to kill himself, but survived. His death sentence comes at a politically fraught moment for Iran as the country is at it's 'most isolated,' said Abbas Milani, an Iran expert at Stanford University. The Islamic Republic is 'desperately trying to see whether it can arrive at a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program and have the sanctions lifted,' he said. Drawing the ire of Tataloo's fans is 'one headache they don't need,' he added. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at ___
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
No Supreme Court win, but Mexico pressures U.S. on southbound guns
MEXICO CITY — More than a decade ago, Mexican authorities erected a billboard along the border in Ciudad Juárez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso. 'No More Weapons,' was the stark message, written in English and crafted from 3 tons of firearms that had been seized and crushed. It was a desperate entreaty to U.S. officials to stanch the so-called Iron River, the southbound flow of arms that was fueling record levels of carnage in Mexico. But the guns kept coming — and the bloodletting and mayhem grew. Finally, with homicides soaring to record levels, exasperated authorities pivoted to a novel strategy: Mexico filed a $10-billion suit in U.S. federal court seeking to have Smith & Wesson and other signature manufacturers held accountable for the country's epidemic of shooting deaths. The uphill battle against the powerful gun lobby survived an appeals court challenge, but last week the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Mexico's lawsuit, ruling unanimously that federal law shields gunmakers from nearly all liability. Although the litigation stalled, advocates say the high-profile gambit did notch a significant achievement: Dramatizing the role of Made-in-U.S.A. arms in Mexico's daily drumbeat of assassinations, massacres and disappearances. 'Notwithstanding the Supreme Court ruling, Mexico's lawsuit has accomplished a great deal,' said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on Gun Violence, a Washington-based advocacy group. 'It has put the issue of gun trafficking — and the industry's role in facilitating the gun pipeline — on the bilateral and international agenda,' said Lowy, who was co-counsel in Mexico's lawsuit. A few hours after the high court decision, Ronald Johnson, the U.S. ambassador in Mexico City, wrote on X that the White House was intent on working with Mexico 'to stop southbound arms trafficking and dismantle networks fueling cartel violence.' The comments mark the first time that Washington — which has strong-armed Mexico to cut down on the northbound traffic of fentanyl and other illicit drugs — has acknowledged a reciprocal responsibility to clamp down on southbound guns, said President Claudia Sheinbaum. She hailed it as a breakthrough, years in the making. 'This is not just about the passage of narcotics from Mexico to the United States,' Sheinbaum said Friday. 'But that there [must] also be no passage of arms from the United States to Mexico.' Mexico is mulling options after the Supreme Court rebuff, Sheinbaum said. Still pending is a separate lawsuit by Mexico in U.S. federal court accusing five gun dealers in Arizona of trafficking weapons and ammunition to the cartels. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say that the Trump administration's recent designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations means that weapons traffickers may face terrorism-related charges. 'In essence, the cartels that operate within Mexico and threaten the state are armed from weapons that are bought in the United States and shipped there,' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional panel last month. 'We want to help stop that flow.' On Monday, federal agents gathered at an international bridge in Laredo, Texas, before an array of seized arms — from snub-nosed revolvers to mounted machine guns — to demonstrate what they insist is a newfound resolve to stop the illicit gun commerce. 'This isn't a weapon just going to Mexico,' Craig Larrabee, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, told reporters. 'It's going to arm the cartels. It's going to fight police officers and create terror throughout Mexico.' In documents submitted to the Supreme Court, Mexican authorities charged that it defied credibility that U.S. gunmakers were unaware that their products were destined for Mexican cartels — a charge denied by manufacturers. The gun industry also disputed Mexico's argument that manufacturers deliberately produce military-style assault rifles and other weapons that, for both practical and aesthetic reasons, appeal to mobsters. Mexico cited several .38-caliber Colt offerings, including a gold-plated, Jefe de Jefes ('Boss of Bosses') pistol; and a handgun dubbed the 'Emiliano Zapata,' emblazoned with an image of the revered Mexican revolutionary hero and his celebrated motto: 'It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.' Compared with the United States, Mexico has a much more stringent approach to firearms. Like the 2nd Amendment, Mexico's Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. But it also stipulates that federal law 'will determine the cases, conditions, requirements and places' of gun ownership. There are just two stores nationwide, both run by the military, where people can legally purchase guns. At the bigger store, in Mexico City, fewer than 50 guns are sold on average each day. Buyers are required to provide names, addresses and fingerprints in a process that can drag on for months. And unlike the United States, Mexico maintains a national registry. But the vast availability of U.S.-origin, black-market weapons undermines Mexico's strict guidelines. According to Mexican officials, an estimated 200,000 to half a million guns are smuggled annually into Mexico. Data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives illustrate where criminals in Mexico are obtaining their firepower. Of the 132,823 guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico from 2009 to 2018, fully 70% were found to have originated in the U.S. — mostly in Texas and other Southwest border states. In their lawsuit, Mexican authorities cited even higher numbers: Almost 90% of guns seized at crime scenes came from north of the border. Experts say most firearms in Mexico are bought legally at U.S. gun shows or retail outlets by so-called straw purchasers,who smuggle the weapons across the border. It's a surprisingly easy task: More than a million people and about $1.8 billion in goods cross the border legally each day, and Mexico rarely inspects vehicles heading south. In recent years, the flood of weapons from the United States has accelerated, fueling record levels of violence. Mexican organized crime groups have expanded their turf and moved into rackets beyond drug trafficking, including extortion, fuel-smuggling and the exploitation of timber, minerals and other natural resources. In 2004, guns accounted for one-quarter of Mexico's homicides. Today, guns are used in roughly three-quarters of killings. Mexican leaders have long been sounding alarms. Former President Felipe Calderón, who, with U.S. backing, launched what is now widely viewed as a catastrophic 'war' on Mexican drug traffickers in late 2006, personally pleaded with U.S. lawmakers to reinstate a congressional prohibition on purchases of high-powered assault rifles. The expiration of the ban in 2004 meant that any adult with a clean record could enter a store in most states and walk out with weapons that, in much of the world, are legally reserved for military use. 'Many of these guns are not going to honest American hands,' Calderon said in a 2010 address to the U.S. Congress. 'Instead, thousands are ending up in the hands of criminals.' It was Calderón who, near the end of his term, ventured to the northern border to unveil the massive billboard urging U.S. authorities to stop the weapons flow. His appeals, and those of subsequent Mexican leaders, went largely unheeded. The verdict is still out on whether Washington will follow up on its latest vows to throttle the gun traffic. 'The Trump administration has said very clearly that it wants to go after Mexican organized crime groups,' said David Shirk, a political scientist at San Diego University who studies violence in Mexico. 'And, if you're going to get serious about Mexican cartels, you have to take away their guns.' Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
