Turkey rebuffs U.S. pressure to slash trade with Iran

A top Turkish official says in the U.S. that Turkish firms are
‘free to make their own decisions’ about complying with sanctions aimed
at cutting off trade with Iran over its nuclear program.

Turkey has rebuffed a U.S. effort to persuade it to scale
back its trade ties with Iran despite a persistent U.S. lobbying
campaign this week in Washington and Ankara.

Ali Babacan, a
Turkish deputy prime minister, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday
that Turkish companies remained “free to make their own decisions”
about whether to comply with U.S. and European sanctions aimed at
cutting off trade with Iran.

The sanctions, the latest round of
which were adopted in June, were designed to build enough economic
pressure on Iran to persuade its leaders to limit its disputed nuclear
program. The United States and many other countries believe the program
is aimed at obtaining the know-how to build nuclear weapons, although
Iran says it seeks nuclear energy only for peaceful uses.

Turkey
is a major trading partner with its neighbor to the east, and its
failure to comply with the sanctions is a threat to their success.
Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said last month that his
country wanted to triple its trade with Iran.

The Obama
administration this week mounted a major effort to bring Turkey in line.
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