Turkey and US Hold Talks on Coming Iran Sanctions
$OIL, $GLD
US and Turkish officials met Friday to discuss impending American sanctions on Iran.
US Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea, met with Turkish treasury and foreign ministry officials, said his talks in Ankara were very “positive” and that there was “no hostility” on either side. He also met with a series of Turkish companies.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said for its part, that it was monitoring the sanctions and that authorities were working to ensure that Turkey is not “negatively impacted by the upcoming sanctions.”
President Donald Trump announced in May that he would pull the United States out of a Y 2015 agreement over Iran’s nuclear program and would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.
His Administration threatened countries with sanctions if they do not cut off Iranian Crude Oil imports by early November.
Turkey imports a more than 50% of its Crude Oil supplies from Iran, has suggested that it did not intend to cut off trade with Iran, saying it was not obliged to abide by “unilateral” US decisions.
US Treasury officials have said in Washington that the US may consider providing waivers from the sanctions to some countries which require time to cut Crued Oil imports from Iran.
Mr. Billingslea said that the US adamant about enforcing the new sanctions more “actively.”
“This time around, the treasury sanctions will be enforced very, very aggressively and very comprehensibly,” he said. “I think the Turkish government understands our position on that.”
“We certainly would be very, very concerned about trying to trade with Iran in Gold,” he said, adding that the US is tracking and trying to understand “large purchases of Gold in Turkey.”
Turkey said Iran was an “important neighbor” for “economic and commercial relations, as well as our energy imports.”
According to data from the country’s Energy Market Regulator, Turkey imported 3-M tons of Crude Oil from Iran in the 1st 4 months of Y 2018, making up 55% of Crude Oil supplies and 27% of its total energy imports.
“Iran may be a neighbor of Turkey but they are not a friend or an ally.”
America First
Have a terrific weekend.
Paul Ebeling
Latest posts by Paul Ebeling (see all)
- Stock Traders are Braced for the Week Ahead - December 8, 2019
- The 70th Anniversary of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2020 - December 7, 2019
- Walking, Talking, Driving and Texting can be Dangerous - December 7, 2019