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13 January 2012 - 12:47

Turkey says it will not comply with the fresh US-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran over its peaceful nuclear program.

Turkey will not abide by any unilateral or multilateral sanctions against Iran, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal told a news conference on Thursday.

Ankara would examine the content of sanctions, but commits itself to the United Nations Security Council's resolutions and not to any other sanctions by other countries, he added.

This comes despite Washington's efforts to drum up Ankara's support for the latest US sanctions.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who visited Turkey earlier this week, asked Ankara to uphold the unilateral US sanctions against Iran.

On December 31, US President Barack Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

The bill requires foreign financial firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran's Central Bank and oil sector or with the US financial sector. The legislation will not go into effect for six months to allow buyers of Iran's oil to find alternative suppliers.

US sanctions, as well as unilateral embargoes imposed on Iran's energy and financial sectors by Britain and Canada came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report on Iranian nuclear program early November, accusing Tehran of seeking to weaponize its nuclear technology.

Tehran argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful objectives.
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News ID 181373