Iran, ASEAN to Sign Cooperation Treaty
SINGAPORE (Dispatches) -- Iran will sign a cooperation treaty with Southeast Asia at an upcoming meeting that will also be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and North Korean officials, a Singaporean diplomat said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif will sign the document at a gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers starting on July 30 in Singapore, Ong Keng Yong, the city-state’s non-resident ambassador to Iran, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
"The ASEAN countries welcome anyone who wants to sign onto the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation,” said Ong, a former Asean secretary general.
The ASEAN meeting comes two months after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of an international nuclear agreement with Iran, and moved to choke off the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.
The 10-member ASEAN bloc represents 630 million people and economies with a combined gross domestic product of around $2.4 trillion.
The leaders of Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. are expected to attend the 13th East Asia Summit in November. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- this year’s ASEAN host -- said last month that Trump had accepted his invitation to the gathering.
U.S. and Turkish officials met on Friday to discuss impending American sanctions on Iran - an issue that has the potential to cause a new flashpoint in relations between the two NATO allies.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea, who met with Turkish treasury and foreign ministry officials, said his talks in Ankara were very "positive" and that there was "no hostility" on either side. He also met with a series of Turkish companies.
Turkey's foreign ministry said for its part that it was monitoring the sanctions and that authorities were working to ensure that Turkey is not "negatively impacted by the upcoming sanctions."
Turkey, which imports a more than half of its oil supplies from neighboring Iran, had earlier suggested that it did not intend to cut off trade with Iran, saying it was not obliged to abide by "unilateral" U.S. decisions.
U.S. Treasury officials have reportedly said in Washington that the U.S. may consider providing waivers from the sanctions to some countries which require time to cut oil imports from Iran.
Speaking to a small group of reporters in Ankara, Billingslea would not say, however, if Turkey would be granted exemptions.
"At this point, I'm not in a position to suggest that we are issuing waivers or exemptions," he said. At the same time, Billingslea said that the U.S. was adamant about enforcing the new sanctions more "actively."
"This time around, the treasury sanctions will be enforced very, very aggressively and very comprehensibly," Billingslea said. "I think the Turkish government understands our position on that."
"We certainly would be very, very concerned about trying to trade with Iran in gold," Billingslea said, adding that the U.S. was tracking and trying to understand "large purchases of gold in Turkey."
Turkey, in its statement, said Iran was an "important neighbor" for "economic and commercial relations, as well as our energy imports."
According to data from the country's Energy Market Regulator, Turkey imported 3 million tons of crude oil from Iran in the first four months of 2018, making up 55% of crude supplies and 27% of its total energy imports.
"Iran may be a neighbor of Turkey but they are not a friend or an ally," Billingslea said.
Turkey says it remains determined to maintain trade ties with Iran in an apparent defiance against a purported plan by the US to urge all nations to cut imports of Iranian oil from November.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last month that Ankara would not cut off trade ties with Iran "at the behest of other countries” in a clear reference to the U.S.
"If the United States' decisions are aimed at peace and stability, then we'll support them, but we don't have to follow every decision. Being allies doesn't mean following every decision word for word," Cavusoglu told the Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview.
"Iran is a good neighbor and we have economic ties. We are not going to cut off our trade ties with Iran because other countries told us so," he added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif will sign the document at a gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers starting on July 30 in Singapore, Ong Keng Yong, the city-state’s non-resident ambassador to Iran, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
"The ASEAN countries welcome anyone who wants to sign onto the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation,” said Ong, a former Asean secretary general.
The ASEAN meeting comes two months after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of an international nuclear agreement with Iran, and moved to choke off the Islamic Republic’s oil exports.
The 10-member ASEAN bloc represents 630 million people and economies with a combined gross domestic product of around $2.4 trillion.
The leaders of Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. are expected to attend the 13th East Asia Summit in November. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- this year’s ASEAN host -- said last month that Trump had accepted his invitation to the gathering.
U.S. and Turkish officials met on Friday to discuss impending American sanctions on Iran - an issue that has the potential to cause a new flashpoint in relations between the two NATO allies.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea, who met with Turkish treasury and foreign ministry officials, said his talks in Ankara were very "positive" and that there was "no hostility" on either side. He also met with a series of Turkish companies.
Turkey's foreign ministry said for its part that it was monitoring the sanctions and that authorities were working to ensure that Turkey is not "negatively impacted by the upcoming sanctions."
Turkey, which imports a more than half of its oil supplies from neighboring Iran, had earlier suggested that it did not intend to cut off trade with Iran, saying it was not obliged to abide by "unilateral" U.S. decisions.
U.S. Treasury officials have reportedly said in Washington that the U.S. may consider providing waivers from the sanctions to some countries which require time to cut oil imports from Iran.
Speaking to a small group of reporters in Ankara, Billingslea would not say, however, if Turkey would be granted exemptions.
"At this point, I'm not in a position to suggest that we are issuing waivers or exemptions," he said. At the same time, Billingslea said that the U.S. was adamant about enforcing the new sanctions more "actively."
"This time around, the treasury sanctions will be enforced very, very aggressively and very comprehensibly," Billingslea said. "I think the Turkish government understands our position on that."
"We certainly would be very, very concerned about trying to trade with Iran in gold," Billingslea said, adding that the U.S. was tracking and trying to understand "large purchases of gold in Turkey."
Turkey, in its statement, said Iran was an "important neighbor" for "economic and commercial relations, as well as our energy imports."
According to data from the country's Energy Market Regulator, Turkey imported 3 million tons of crude oil from Iran in the first four months of 2018, making up 55% of crude supplies and 27% of its total energy imports.
"Iran may be a neighbor of Turkey but they are not a friend or an ally," Billingslea said.
Turkey says it remains determined to maintain trade ties with Iran in an apparent defiance against a purported plan by the US to urge all nations to cut imports of Iranian oil from November.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last month that Ankara would not cut off trade ties with Iran "at the behest of other countries” in a clear reference to the U.S.
"If the United States' decisions are aimed at peace and stability, then we'll support them, but we don't have to follow every decision. Being allies doesn't mean following every decision word for word," Cavusoglu told the Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview.
"Iran is a good neighbor and we have economic ties. We are not going to cut off our trade ties with Iran because other countries told us so," he added.