Turkey After Negotiating with the US: We Are Monitoring Sanctions Against Iran

Following the meeting on Friday between US and Turkish officials regarding sanctions on Iran, Ankara announced that it is monitoring the sanctions. On the same day, Reuters reported that Turkey's largest oil importer has reduced its imports from Iran in recent months. Marshall Billingslea, the US Treasury Deputy Secretary for Terrorism Financing, led a delegation in Ankara to meet with officials from Turkey's Foreign and Treasury Ministries on Friday, July 19. According to the Associated Press, following this meeting, Billingslea described the talks with Turkey as very 'positive' and stated that the parties had no 'hostility' towards each other. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also announced after this meeting that it is overseeing the sanctions and that Turkish officials are working to ensure that upcoming sanctions against Iran do not negatively impact Turkey. These statements come as Reuters reported on Friday that the 'Tupras' refinery, Turkey's largest oil importer, has reduced its imports from Iran since May following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA. According to Reuters, Tupras had imported an average of about 187,000 barrels of oil from Iran daily in the first four months of 2018. However, in May and June, the refinery's oil imports from Iran decreased by about 57,000 barrels, reaching approximately 130,000 barrels per day. An informed source told Reuters that Washington's decision to reimpose sanctions against Tehran is the main reason for the reduction in Tupras's oil imports from Iran. This source added that despite the sanctions, Tupras is likely to continue importing oil from Iran. However, analysts speculate that Tupras may further reduce its oil imports from Iran in the coming months. Turkey is heavily dependent on imports to meet its energy needs, and Iran is considered one of the main sources of energy supply for the country. During previous sanctions, whenever Turkey had to reduce oil imports from Iran, it had replaced it with oil from Iraq. Analysts believe that Turkey will likely turn to Iraq again to compensate for its shortages this time. US State Department officials had previously emphasized that Washington is trying to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero by November when US sanctions against Tehran are resumed. However, these statements were somewhat adjusted in the following days, as another US official explained that Washington wants to 'convince as many customers as possible to completely stop buying oil from Iran.' According to him, the US is negotiating separately with each of the oil customers who are reducing their purchases from Iran to force Iran to change its 'threatening' behaviors.