On Jan. 29, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.
The US administration rushed David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, to Ankara Jan. 27 before Erdogan's departure to remind Turkey that Iran is still under sanctions and that now is no time to muddy the waters at this critical point in the negotiations. The UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany (P5+1) had reached an agreement in November 2013 with Iran over its nuclear program, and that deal was to be implemented starting Jan. 20. After his talks in Ankara with senior Foreign Ministry officials, Cohen told reporters, “Businesses interested in engaging in Iran really should hold off. The day may come when Iran is open for business, but the day is not today.”
