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.

But US President Donald Trump’s decision May 8 to withdraw from the nuclear pact and reinstate sanctions on Iran comes as a major blow to the Turkish business world.

Turkish investments and trade hadn't really had a chance to benefit much yet from the 2015 agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran. The annual trade volume between Turkey and Iran had fallen steadily from 2012 — when it peaked at $22 billion because of Turkey’s gold exports — through 2016. The decline after 2012 could be attributed to sanctions and political tensions linked to Syria and Iraq. Nevertheless, after the Iran sanctions were lifted, its trade volume with Turkey — which was $9.8 billion in 2015 — slipped to $9.7 billion in 2016. Volume didn't exceed $10.7 billion in 2017.