As Washington has renewed its push to bring Irans oil exports “to zero” the US decision to lift special sanctions waivers for certain Iranian oil purchasers has drawn the ire of America's NATO ally – Ankara.
Turkey – one of the purchasers of Iranian oil, which had thus far enjoyed an exemption from the US sanctions – was clearly frustrated over the White House decision not to extend the waivers beyond May 2. Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusolgu didnt just criticize this move but even assailed US policies, vowing that Ankara would not let itself to be bossed around.
“The US decision to end sanctions waivers on Iran oil imports will not serve regional peace and stability, yet will harm Iranian people,” Cavusolgu said in a tweet. The foreign minister went on to say that his country “rejects unilateral sanctions” as well as anyone telling it “how to conduct relations with neighbors.”
The #US decision to end sanctions waivers on #Iran oil imports will not serve regional peace and stability, yet will harm Iranian people. #Turkey rejects unilateral sanctions and impositions on how to conduct relations with neighbors. @StateDept@SecPompeo
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) 22 апреля 2019 г.
Earlier on Monday, the White House said that US President Donald Trump “has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) when they expire in early May.” It also said in a statement that Washington once again intends to eventually “bring Irans oil exports to zero” – something that the US threatened to do since it unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, with which Tehran was found to have been compliant.
As the US re-imposed its sanctions against Iran following its withdrawal from the deal, it granted temporary import waivers to China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea, to ensure low oil prices and avoid disruption to the global oil market.
Also on rt.com United States to end sanction waivers for countries importing Iranian oil
The latest US decision might exacerbate tensions between the two NATO allies, who are already at loggerheads over Ankaras purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. The $2.5 billion agreement Turkey signed with Russia back in 2017Read More – Source
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