Turkey stops importing Iran’s oil ‘out of respect for US sanctions’ – official

Ankara stopped buying oil from Iran at the beginning of May out of ‘respect’ for US sanctions despite disagreeing with them, AFP quoted a Turkish official as saying on Wednesday.

“As a strategic ally” of the US, “we respect” the sanctions, said the official, during Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kiran’s visit to Washington.

Turkey was among eight countries, also including China, India and Japan, that were initially exempt from the sanctions and allowed to continue importing Iranian crude. The exemption ended May 2 and has not been renewed.

Ankara initially appeared unwilling to comply, but according to the anonymous official, Turkey did stop importing Iranian oil after May 2.

The Turkish delegation in Washington reportedly discussed the various points of tension between the two NATO allies, including Ankara’s recent purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia.