Abstract

The growing complexity of economic crimes and the expansion of organized money laundering activities have increasingly highlighted the role of this crime in financing criminal groups, terrorism, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. This situation has made it essential to review and strengthen criminal laws within the legal systems of Iran and Islamic countries (such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq). This study, using a descriptive-analytical method, examines the legislative requirements and necessities for combating money laundering in Islamic jurisprudence, the Iranian legal system, and Islamic countries. The findings indicate that in 2018 (1397), the legislator significantly incorporated international policies into the domestic legal system by amending the Anti-Money Laundering Law. These reforms included diversifying penalties, introducing penalties for legal entities, and establishing aggravating conditions for offenders.However, there are shortcomings in this approach that have undermined the law's effectiveness. These include overlapping responsibilities of supervisory institutions, inadequate penalization of accomplices, and challenges arising from jurisprudential and legal principles. These issues have limited the law’s effectiveness in combating money laundering, allowing the crime to continue expanding despite a strict approach in the amendments. The research findings demonstrate that due to the lack of specialized legislation in this law, the expected deterrence has not been achieved, and there is a pressing need for more precise expertise and specialization in future reforms of this legislation.