October 23, 2026

Why does the exchange ask about Iran if you've never been there?

Your exchange deposit is on hold and the email asks: "Please confirm the funds are not linked to high-risk jurisdictions." You've never been to Iran. But your counterparty may have been — or rather, their money.

🗺 WHERE A WALLET GETS A "COUNTRY"

An address has no citizenship. The country comes from the platforms the money went through. If the counterparties include, say, the Iranian exchange Nobitex, compliance sees an Iranian trail — even if the money reached you two transfers later.

📋 THE FATF LISTS

FATF is the international body that sets anti-money-laundering rules. It keeps two lists:

• black — call for action: North Korea, Iran, Myanmar;
• grey — increased monitoring: after the 30 October 2026 plenary it has 18 countries, including Vietnam, Kenya, Lebanon, Syria and Venezuela (Bulgaria, Monaco, Côte d’Ivoire and DR Congo were removed).

A link to the black list almost always means extra checks; the grey list means closer attention.

⚠️ AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT

A country can only be determined for platforms with a known jurisdiction. A private wallet without a label has no country — and we won't guess one. So "country not identified" doesn't mean "all clean", it means "no data".

✅ WHAT TO DO

• Before a large deal, look at which platforms your counterparty's money went through.
• A platform from the FATF black list — refuse, or ask for another source of funds.
• Grey list — keep the report and the deal records: explaining the origin will be easier.

The AMLConsensus full check has a "Countries of counterparties and FATF lists" section: which platforms, which country and its status.

Check an address for free: https://t.me/amlconsensus_bot?start=en What the checks include: https://amlconsensus.com/en/#check-kinds