United States Threatens Turkey with Sanctions for Its Cooperation with Iran

As Fars News Agency reports, Washington has warned Ankara of imposing sanctions if it continues to cooperate with Tehran. According to the Iranian agency, the official warning from Washington to Turkish representatives was delivered by U.S. Treasury spokesman Roger Cohen.

During his visit to Turkey, he stressed that an increase in Iran-Turkey trade and financial relations runs counter to the efforts of the U.S. and the international community to curb Iranian nuclear ambitions.

Turkey, in return, perceived such U.S. position negatively. According to the head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Volkan Bozkir, nobody in the world can prevent the development of Turkey’s relations with its neighbors.

“Other countries should be careful when making such warnings to Turkey. Today, Turkey is not that country which it was 10 years ago. According to which international standards can the U.S. impose sanctions, not relying on the legal institutions? Only the U.N. has the right to impose sanctions to this or that country. We are not concerned about U.S. warnings,” said a Turkish parliamentarian.

It is also reported that the Obama administration has warned a number of Turkish banks operating in the United States about stringent measures if Turkey violates anti-Iranian U.N. sanctions.

According to an anonymous Turkish diplomatic source, at least one Turkish bank is under current investigation in the United States.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey had two confidential meetings within the framework of the 66th U.N. General Assembly session in New York, reports IRNA. It is reported that Ali Akbar Salehi and [Ahmet] Davutoglu discussed the political situation in the world and the region, as well as bilateral relations.