9 November 2009 / TODAY’S ZAMAN , ANKARA
Washington has made it clear that it does not look favorably on a recent series of deals signed between Turkey and Iran during a recent visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the neighboring country late last month.
During the visit, Iran and Turkey signed a number of deals to facilitate the efficient flow of gas through Turkey to Europe, including accords on allocating some of Iran’s South Pars gas field to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), allowing Iranian gas to be transported via Turkey and allowing Turkmenistan’s natural gas to be pumped to Turkey via Iran.The issue was raised at a US State Department Foreign Press Center briefing by Philip H. Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, on Friday. “The United States doesn’t do economic business with Iran and we also don’t think it’s time for business as usual with Iran for other countries,” Gordon said.“Just to emphasize the core point, even when investments or exchanges with Iran do not fall afoul of our law, as a general principle we don’t think now is the time for business as usual with Iran,” he added. The deals with Iran came only weeks ahead of Erdoğan’s scheduled visit to the US on Dec. 7.
