Turkey and USA share same strategic goals in regard to issue of Iran, says U.S. State Dept. Spokesperson

WASHINGTON (A.A) - The Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Victoria Nuland, said Monday that Turkey and the U.S. shared the same strategic goals in regard to the issue of Iran. Speaking at a daily press briefing in Washington, Nuland said that one of the issues U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns talked in his meetings with Turkish officials on Monday in Ankara had to do with decreasing international dependence on Iranian oil. In response to a journalist's remarks that Turkey was opposed to sanctions against Iran, Nuland said that she did not agree with the journalist's remarks. We have been in close touch with the Turkish government at all levels for months on Iran, Nuland stressed. Turkey and the U.S. share same strategic goals in urging Iran to fulfill its international obligations and in clarifying its nuclear energy program, Nuland said. When you look at it from a strategic perspective, we believe that we share the same goals with Turkey. Turkey is in a serious effort to search for what could be done so that the sanctions against Iran get implemented. Yet these two countries are neighbors and there is a trade factor. What is important is that we stay in close consultations with Turkey so that pressures against Iran come to a maximum level and Iran fulfills its obligations, Nuland also said.