Turkey appears determined to keep writing letter of credit (L/C) business with Iran despite tougher sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic by Washington.

President Donald Trump has pulled the US out of a 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and ordered new US sanctions on Tehran, while a senior state department official said Washington has told allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November.

Opposing Washington

Turkey opposes sanctions on Iran and is not obliged to abide by sanctions imposed by the US or any other body according to foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

Turkey has criticised Trump's decision to leave the nuclear pact and has publicly resisted US calls to cut oil imports from Iran.

Defiant stance

"We do not have to adhere to the sanctions imposed on a country by another country. We don't find the sanctions right either," Çavuşoğlu said.

Turkey buys oil and gas from Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Iraq. Ankara also opposes US sanctions imposed on Russia.

Currency swap

Turkey will be able to continue buying oil from Iran because the two countries have made local currency trading arrangements to reduce their reliance on the US dollar.

The first L/C deal under the currency swap arrangement to exchange Iranian rial and Turkish lira was transacted in April.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.