Yildiz: Turkey Has No Plan To Cut Iran Oil Imports

Ankara, Aug 3, IRNA -- Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says Ankara has no plans to cut its crude oil imports from Iran. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Yildiz said Turkey’s oil imports from Iran stand between 5.5-6 million tons per day (around 105,000 barrels), noting, it “is not within our plans” to trim that figure. The comment comes a day after the US House of Representatives approved a bill to impose tougher sanctions against Iran’s oil exports and other economic sectors. The bill, which must be approved by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama to become law, seeks to cut Iran's oil exports by one million barrels per day over a year. It also blacklists any business in Iran's automotive, mining and construction sectors and commits the United States to the goal of ending all Iranian oil sales worldwide by 2015. The US has imposed several rounds of illegal sanctions on Iran, which Washington claims to be aimed at pressuring Tehran to abandon its nuclear energy program. The United States, Israel, and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Tehran has categorically rejected the accusation, arguing that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. In addition, numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities by the IAEA have never found any evidence showing that the Iranian nuclear energy program has been diverted toward non-civilian purposes./end