Tehran | The Iranian foreign minister strongly condemned on Tuesday the American sanctions against Turkey imposed by Washington for the acquisition by Ankara of the Russian air defense system S-400, citing a “contempt for international law”.
The United States on Monday announced the imposition of sanctions on the Turkish government agency responsible for arms procurement, the SSB, prohibiting it from all arms export permits and financially sanctioning its president, Ismail Demir, as well as other officers of this agency.
A state-of-the-art air defense system and one of the flagships of the Russian military industry, the S-400s are incompatible with NATO systems of which Turkey is a member.
“We strongly condemn the recent US sanctions against Turkey and we stand by its people and its government,” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, using the hashtag “#NeighborsFirst (neighbors of ‘on board).
He denounced the United States’ repeated desire to impose sanctions illustrating its “contempt for international law”.
Turkey and Iran are two neighboring regional powers with historically complex relations.
They are opposed on many issues, but in recent years have strengthened their cooperation in a few sectors, such as energy, and are fiercely hostile to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In a speech just before the announcement of the US decision on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his “sadness” at seeing “the speeches on sanctions” prevail in the United States and within the United States. the European Union.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called during a November tour of the Middle East to continue the policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran.