Turkey Says Eyes US Sanctions Waivers on Iran Oil
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey "expects" the Trump administration to grant it waivers from the US related to its purchases of Iranian oil, a top aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Presidential spokesman and senior adviser Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference he could not be certain that the waivers would be granted. But, he said Turkey had made a strong case that should be heeded, Al Jazeera reported.
Turkey is seeking an extension to a waiver that allows it to import Iranian oil without US penalties that were re-imposed in November after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. The waiver expires early next month.
"We are expecting an extension for Turkey," Kalin said. "We have made it clear we would like to continue to buy Iranian oil. People should not expect Turkey to turn its back on Iran just like that."
Turkey did not support US sanctions policy on Iran and did not think it would yield the desired result, Kalin said.
The administration granted waivers to eight countries, including Turkey, allowing them to continue to buy Iranian crude provided they pledged to move to cut their imports to zero. Those waivers expire on May 2.
Sources close to the matter told Reuters News Agency in March that Washington is likely to renew waivers for at least three buyers of Iranian oil and Turkey was one of them, along with China and India.
Kalin said Turkey would not want to violate sanctions if a waiver were not extended.
"We will look for alternatives in terms of transactions and other things. We don't want to break or violate the sanctions but at the same time we don't want to be deprived of our right to buy oil and gas from Iran," he said.