Iran Sanctions - Foreign Press Centers

Turkey
Iran Sanctions
Turkey is a large buyer of Iranian oil; in 2011, it averaged 196,000 bpd. Turkey also buys natural
gas from Iran through their mutual pipeline. Turkey, which has sometimes sought to mediate
between Iran and the Western countries, initially did not pledge to reduce its oil buys from Iran in
response to U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank. However, Turkish officials announced on
March 30, 2012, that Turkey would cut its buys from Iran by 10%. Turkey has, on several
occasions, blocked or impounded Iranian arms and other contraband shipments bound for Syria or
Lebanese Hezbollah.
Persian Gulf and Other Middle Eastern States
The Persian Gulf countries are, themselves, oil exporters, and their role is evaluated for their
potential to compensate for reduction in other country purchases of oil from Iran. Although those
Gulf states with spare capacity appear willing to fully supply the market, their cooperation with
other U.S. sanctions against Iran has tended to be mixed. Most experts attribute this record to
strategic considerations colored by wariness and suspicion of Iran, which are discussed in detail
in CRS Report RL32048, Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses, by Kenneth Katzman. That
report discusses the relations between Iran and other Middle Eastern states such as Syria.
Still, the UAE is very closely watched by U.S. officials because of its historic extensive business
dealings with Iran. U.S. officials offered substantial praise for the decision announced March 1,
2012, by Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank to end transactions with Iran. Iran reportedly uses the
bank to process a substantial portion of its oil payments.
Latin America
Iran is looking to several Latin American countries, including Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador,
Nicaragua, and Bolivia, to try to reduce the effects of international sanctions. Iran believes that
these and other Latin American countries might be willing, in part because of their own
differences with the United States, to conduct certain transactions with Iran that might be
sanctionable. Venezuela appears willing to help Iran and, as noted earlier in this report, its state
oil company has been sanctioned under the ISA. For the most part, however, Iran’s trade and
other business dealings with Latin America remain modest and likely to reduce the effect of
sanctions on Iran marginally at most.
Contrast With Previous Periods
The emerging consensus on Iran sanctions differs from early periods when there was far more
disagreement. Reflecting the traditional European preference for providing incentives rather than
enacting economic punishments, during 2002-2005, there were active negotiations between the
European Union and Iran on a “Trade and Cooperation Agreement” (TCA). Such an agreement
would have lowered the tariffs or increased quotas for Iranian exports to the EU countries. 44
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Brannan, and Andrea Scheel. January 12, 2009.
44
During the active period of talks, which began in December 2002, there were working groups focused not only on the
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Congressional Research Service 36