Turkey has warned Washington against its new sanctions on Iran, saying isolating the Islamic Republic is “dangerous.” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.
Washington this week imposed a second set of sanctions on Iran that aim to isolate the country’s banking sector and slash its oil exports.
Eight countries including Turkey have received a US waiver to continue importing Iranian oil.
“While we were asking (for) an exemption from the United States, we have also been very frank with them that cornering Iran is not wise. Isolating Iran is dangerous and punishing the Iranian people is not fair,” he said at a press conference during a trip to Japan.
“Turkey is against sanctions, we don’t believe any results can be achieved through the sanctions,” he added.
“I think instead of sanctions, meaningful dialogue and engagement is much more useful.”
Washington has imposed two sets of sanctions this year after pulling out of a nuclear pact agreed between world powers and Iran that President Donald Trump slammed as “defective”.
The latest round went into effect on Monday.