SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey urges US to return to Iran nuclear accord
Istanbul, Jan 29 (AFP) Jan 29, 2021
Turkey urged the United States on Friday to return to the Iran nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on the Islamic republic, clearing the way for improved trade between the two neighbours.

US President Joe Biden's administration has signalled a fresh approach to the Middle East, including a gradual return to diplomacy with Iran.

But US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would only rejoin the Iran agreement, which Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, once Tehran resumes complying with its terms.

"We hope the United States will return to the agreement under the Biden administration," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint press appearance with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif in Istanbul.

"God willing, sanctions and embargoes on Iran will be removed," he said.

On Thursday, Zarif said Washington had to take the first step because it was the one that walked away from the landmark 2015 accord, which was also signed by the European Union, Russia and China.

"We are ready to do our part once America fulfils its commitments," Zarif reaffirmed on Friday.

Biting US sanctions on Tehran that accompanied Trump's decision to drop the deal have hampered trade between Turkey and Iran, which once included large Turkish purchases of Iranian oil.

"Turkey has a clear stance against the US sanctions," Cavusoglu said.

The visit by Iran's top diplomat comes as part of a regional tour that took him to Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi and Moscow.

Turkey and Iran, two regional powers with diplomatic disagreements that include Syria, became entangled in a spat in December linked to Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in its victorious war with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Erdogan, who attended a victory parade in Baku, recited a poem that Iranian officials said supported separatism among Iran's large ethnic Azerbaijani minority.

Tehran and Ankara have since tried to move past the dispute.

Iran has condemned the imposition of US sanctions on Turkey over its procurement of a Russian S-400 air defence system, saying it showed "contempt for international law".

"Unfortunately, America is used to imposing sanctions and these policies harm the whole world and the US itself," said Zarif, who is also due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Perseverance rover cleared for long distance Mars exploration
Origami style lunar rover wheel expands to climb steep caves

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Conventional photon entanglement reveals thousands of hidden topologies in high dimensions
Bilayer tin oxide layer boosts back contact perovskite solar cell efficiency and stability
Brain like chips could cut AI power demand

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Rocket Lab advances US Space Force mission with early STP S30 launch
BlackSky accelerates Gen-3 satellite into full commercial service in three weeks
Leonardo DRS space radio completes first secure on orbit data transport test

24/7 News Coverage
Deep ocean quakes linked to Antarctic phytoplankton surges
Ocean warming drove past Greenland ice stream retreat
Insect radar survey finds vast summer air traffic above United States



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.