Turkey seeks trade mechanism with Iran to sidestep sanctions
▶ Ankara said the deal would be similar to the Instex agreement set up by European trio
Turkey is considering building a new trade mechanism with Iran to avoid US sanctions similar to a programme being set up by Europe, the country’s foreign minister said yesterday.
After talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey opposed the US sanctions reinstated last year after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord signed by Tehran and global powers.
He said Ankara wanted to triple bilateral trade to about $30 billion (Dh110bn).
France, Germany and Britain opened a new channel for non-dollar trade with Iran called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, which allows companies in the trading bloc to circumvent the US restrictions on doing business with Iran.
Russia has expressed an interest in joining Instex.
Washington’s European allies opposed US President Donald Trump’s move to abandon the nuclear deal, under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for Tehran accepting restrictions on its nuclear programme.
“We evaluated how we can establish new mechanisms, like Instex, how we can remove the obstacles before us and before trade,” Mr Cavusoglu said after talks with Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“What is important here is the solidarity and determination between us.”
Iran threatened to pull out of the 2015 deal unless the European nations were able to keep the agreement alive. They have promised to help companies do business with Iran as long as it abides by the deal.
Mr Cavusoglu did not go into detail about the new mechanisms being discussed, but Turkey has a track record of using national currencies in international trade.
In October 2017, both the Turkish and Iranian central banks formally agreed to trade in their local currencies, after using the euro previously. After reimposing sanctions on Iran, Washington granted waivers to eight nations, including Turkey, allowing them to keep buying Iranian oil without sanctions for six more months. But US officials insisted Iranian oil exports be reduced to zero.
Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in Washington on Tuesday that Ankara expected the US to extend its waiver.