Turkey will continue to commit to its long-term energy trade agreement despite the re-imposition of the United States (US) sanctions, Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Donmez announced yesterday.
Speaking in an interview with a private Turkish channel, Donmaz said that his country buys about 9.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Iran annually, stressing: “We are conducting legitimate trade with Iran.”
“Our agreement with the Islamic republic is valid until 2026,” the Turkish minister noted, stressing: “This is important for us regarding natural gas supply security as well.”
Donmez described the US embargo imposed against Iran as “unilateral,” pointing out that “even the European Union (EU) is extremely annoyed by this [US sanctions].”
On Monday, the US administration reinstated comprehensive sanctions against Iran, which were previously frozen by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal. The US President Donald Trump also threatened that anyone trading with Iran would not do business with America.
In May, Trump announced that his country would unilaterally withdraw from the JCPOA deal, which stipulated the gradual lifting of the anti-Iran sanctions in exchange for Tehran maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. The move was opposed by the EU and all signatories to the deal.
