The U.S. Department of the Treasury had previously said, “Cohen is traveling to Turkey and the UAE this week to discuss the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) agreed to by the P5+1, the European Union and Iran. Undersecretary Cohen will discuss the limited and temporary sanctions relief provided under the JPOA and continued enforcement of existing international economic sanctions against Iran.”
Later on the day, Reuters quoted Cohen as saying that Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank is expected to continue processing payments for Iranian oil imports to Turkey.
“Halkbank has for some time been involved in handling oil payments for importing oil from Iran into Turkey and we expect that to continue,” he told reporters after his meeting with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu.
“We talked more broadly about sanctions, on the banking sector so that there is good clarity on the scope of sanctions that remain in effect.”
An interim six-month agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 - the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany - was agreed upon in November and took effect last week. The deal imposes temporary constraints on Iran’s nuclear activities for six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief, while the two sides try to reach a comprehensive agreement.
Cohen’s last visit to Turkey was in December 2013.
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