Official: Turkish businessmen, officials do not approve of US sanctions on Iran
Turkish traders, businessmen and economic of¿cials have, in their statements, announced that they do not approve of unilateral US sanctions against Iran and will not abide by them, said the secretary general of Iran-turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce.
On May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Tehran and P5+1 in July 2015, and announced that the White House will reimpose unilateral sanctions — in two phases both already in place — on Iran.
Jalal Ebrahimi told ISNA that in the past 10 days, Turkish press and media published numerous articles by the country’s of¿cials, traders and political as well as economic experts, all focusing on rejection of Washington’s unilateral sanctions against Iran and its people.
He said Erdal Tanas Karagöl, the head of the economic section at the Turkish Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), maintained that the United Nations (UN) Security Council does not, within the framework of the international laws, approve of US sanctions against Iran.
Quoting the Turkish of¿cial, Ebrahimi added Ankara will not comply with US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.
He said Hatice Beril Dedeoğlu, a former Turkish minister for European Union affairs, also wrote in an article that US sanctions against Tehran are doomed to failure as the global economy’s major players, including Russia and China, are on Iran’s side.
She added that the impacts of US sanctions will be offset, Ebrahimi noted.
He said Trump’s strategy of pressurizing Iran has failed to prove effective as his administration has not managed to convince other countries to accompany the US in the implementation of its anti-iran policies.
Turkey meets a major part of its oil and gas demands through imports from Iran, Ebrahimi added, noting, thus, it will suffer serious losses in the absence of Iran’s oil and gas sales.
“Since the very beginning Ankara was against the reimposition of such sanctions, which fail to be within the [legal] framework of the UN Security Council.”
$30b trade target
Meanwhile, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Speaker of Turkey’s Grand National Assembly Binali Yildirim highlighted the need for realizing the $30-billion trade target between the two countries.
The top lawmaker made the remarks on Thursday in Turkish port city of Istanbul where he met with his Turkish counterpart Yildirim on the sidelines of 11th plenary session of the Asia Parliamentary Assembly (APA).
The Turkish parliament speaker said the US role in currency Àuctuations is a ‘warning’ for regional countries and runs counter to international law.
“We never imagined that the US would one day use the dollar as a cold weapon, but after its agenda came to light, presidents of Iran, China, Turkey and Russia began discussions on national currency-based trade,” he added.
He noted that the US aims to prevent cooperation among countries by exerting pressure and imposing sanctions, adding that the holding of sessions such as the APA and other similar gatherings would counter US measures and boost cooperation among nations.