Iran says FATF decision "political", will not impact its foreign trade

The global dirty money watchdog's decision on Friday to place Iran on its blacklist will have no impact on the country's foreign trade, state news agency IRNA quoted the head of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnasser Hemmati as saying.

"The decision is politically motivated and not a technical decision ... I can assure our nation that it will have no impact on Iran's foreign trade and the stability of our exchange rate," Hemmati said.

The decision came after more than three years of warnings from the Paris-based Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) urging the Islamic Republic to either enact terrorist financing conventions or see its reprieve from the blacklist lifted and some countermeasures imposed.