Turkey to ignore Western sanctions on Iran
Published Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Turkey has no plans to cut its imports of Iranian oil despite rising pressure from Western powers and initial signals it would buy more Saudi oil, Turkish and Saudi sources have told Reuters.
Ankara's intentions became clear after a high level delegation traveled to Riyadh over the weekend and decided against requesting additional supplies from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, the sources said.
The Kingdom is the only producer in the world that has spare volumes to offer to replace Iranian oil.
The development will help Iran avoid extra pain from reduced sales of crude as the European Union seeks to ban Iranian oil imports from July 1.
US sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program have sought to curtail oil exports by targeting its central bank and preventing countries from paying for Iranian oil.
A Saudi oil ministry official said Turkish energy officials had not asked for additional oil when visiting Riyadh last week. "Turkey did not ask for more oil, and has no plans to ban imports from Iran," he said.
An Ankara-based energy official said: "Turkey will continue to buy from Iran unless the United Nations supports/endorses the EU and US oil embargo."
A UN embargo against Iran now seems very unlikely after Russia and China, the biggest buyer of Iranian crude, blocked UN sanctions against Syria.
Turkey imports around 200,000 barrels per day of oil from Iran, covering 30 percent of daily domestic consumption and representing over 7 percent of Iranian oil exports, and had renewed its annual purchase agreement for 2012.
Turkey follows China, India and Russia in suggesting they might ignore the sanctions and continue to trade with Tehran.
Without Asian cooperation, Western sanctions on Iran will have little effect as Iran's top oil export destinations are Asia's energy-hungry economies.
South Korea and Japan have indicated they are seeking to cut purchases to win waivers from US sanctions.
Last week, Sri Lanka announced it was seeking to avoid the sanctions by purchasing Iranian crude oil in a currency other than dollars.
US officials are said to be primarily concerned with transactions in dollars and this option may prove popular for countries seeking to avoid the sanctions.
NATO member Turkey has deepened economic and financial ties with Iran in recent years, despite Western efforts to isolate the country.
On a diplomatic level, Ankara often presents itself as a mediator in talks with the Islamic republic, which it sees as a balancing force in the region against Israel – the only nuclear power in the Middle East.
(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)
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| Local Editor | |||
 Iran has been warning World powers against sanctions which would have major repercussions on them in the first place.US and EU sanctions on Iran's oil exports will drive up oil prices globally because no viable alternative exists for the Islamic republic's output, Iran's envoy to OPEC was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency on Tuesday. "If there were an assured substitute for a big oil exporter then the sanctions would not send a price shock to the market.... (But) conditions in different nations show that, in present circumstances, a substitute does not exist," Mohammad Ali Khatibi said. He predicted that "oil prices will continue to rise in the market" because of colder than usual winter weather in America and Europe, and unrest in Sudan, Syria and Nigeria impacting their oil exports. "Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf," were also behind rising oil prices, he stressed. Oil prices on Tuesday slipped slightly, to $100.52 a barrel for light sweet Texas crude and $117.20 a barrel for Brent crude, on worsening economic outlooks for several European countries. But they remained supported generally by the ongoing tensions over Iran.  Thus far, two of Iran's most important oil customers, China and India, have refused to go along with the US sanctions.In another development, Iran’s ambassador to France said EU sanctions against Iran have mainly put European companies in bad conditions, depriving them of Iranian markets in these tough international economic conditions. According to IRNA, Ali Ahani added in an interview with Radio France Inter, “This condition is to the loss of the western companies, because their products can easily be purchased from other Asian-based, and non-Asian-based companies.” Focusing on probable invasion of the racist Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahani said, “We have no worries at all, because we have predicted all possible scenarios in this respect in advance and we are quite capable of defending ourselves. But whether they would dare to do so or not is another story, because beginning a military invasion against Iran is sheer madness and would have horrible consequences.” He emphasized, “They might be the initiators of the war against us, but they would not be the terminator of the resulting developments, and they must accept the unpredictable aftermaths for such an action.” | |||
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