Erdogan: Turkey Has Not Evaded US Sanctions Against Iran

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, insisted that Turkey has not violated US sanctions against Iran, describing it as a 'correct action.' According to Reuters, Mr. Erdogan made these remarks during a television interview with CNN Turk on Thursday, December 9. His comments came as the trial of Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish citizen, is currently underway in New York, USA. Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish businessman, confessed in a New York court on Wednesday, December 8, that he helped Iran evade sanctions and bribed Turkish officials. According to the Associated Press, he told the court that he is cooperating with US authorities regarding the Iran sanctions evasion case. US prosecutors had refrained from announcing Zarrab's cooperation with US officials for a time in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. The US Attorney's Office has accused Zarrab, born in Iran, of helping the Iranian government and institutions move hundreds of millions of dollars in assets to evade sanctions between 2010 and 2015. According to the US Attorney's Office, recorded phone conversations and other evidence indicate that Zarrab was acting in the interests of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. US prosecutors stated last month that 'the Turkish government and officials of its banks were an inseparable element of the sanctions evasion process.' In this case, nine people have been indicted, but two of them, Reza Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Halkbank, are currently detained in the US. Last month, Zarrab accepted seven charges against him, including conspiracy, violating US sanctions, bank fraud, money laundering, and bribing a prison guard to obtain alcohol and use a mobile phone in prison. US prosecutors claim that Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the Halkbank manager, transferred Iran's oil revenue through money laundering, which violates US sanctions. Zarrab and his wife, Turkish singer Ebru Gündeş, along with their daughter, traveled to the US in 2016 to visit 'World Disney,' which led to Zarrab's arrest. In this context, Zarrab admitted to bribing Turkish officials and evading Iran's sanctions. Zarrab's cooperation with US prosecutors was confirmed, and Turkey has requested the US to end the case against Zarrab and the Turkish banker.