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Turkey stands to suffer under new US sanctions on Iran

Turkey might have a tough time dealing with pending US penalties against Ankara's trading partner Iran.
Turkey's Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci speaks at the Vietnam-Turkey Business Forum in Hanoi on August 24, 2017. 
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Zeybekci are on a three-day official visit to Vietnam focused on fostering closer bilateral ties. / AFP PHOTO / HOANG DINH Nam        (Photo credit should read HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)
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Ankara missed out on many economic opportunities that opened up when the United States lifted sanctions against Iran in 2015. Now Turkey could lose trade with Iran because of impending new sanctions.

Just last month, Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci and a large Turkish delegation that accompanied him to Tehran were talking of the fantastic opportunities offered by the 2015 nuclear agreement signed with Iran by six world powers. Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Council, which had invited the Turkish businessmen to the Turkey-Iran Business Council Joint Meeting, was forecasting that if Turkey began taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Iran in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, mining, construction, retail, logistics and tourism, the annual trade volume goal of $30 billion was attainable.

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