“Iran is an important energy supplier to Turkey. A third of our natural gas comes from Iran. That makes the timing of sanctions very inopportune since the winter cold makes gas buyers more dependent as customers,” Guven Sak, managing director of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), wrote in an article in Al-Monitor website.
Sak went on to criticize the latest US sanctions banning the sale of precious metals to Iran, saying, “That bodes ill for Turkey, which was paying for its gas purchases with gold.”
“Iran is a country in the region with which Turkey has a persistent foreign trade deficit. That is, we buy more from them than we sell,” wrote the Turkish researcher.
He recommended Tehran and Ankara to “find more creative ways on continuing their arrangement.”
On December 26, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said his country will keep buying natural gas from Iran regardless of the Western sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
On December 29, Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister for Gas Affairs Javad Owji said the country’s daily gas exports to Turkey have for the first time topped 31 million cubic meters.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with Washington and the European Union using the false allegation as excuse to impose unilateral illegal sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Iran refutes allegations over its nuclear activities and argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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