‘US Iran sanctions aimed at upsetting global balance’

Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hit out at new sanctions on Iran imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump, saying they were aimed at upsetting the global balance and against international law.

Washington on Monday announced the sanctions on the Islamic Republic that aim to isolate the country´s banking sector and slash its oil exports. Turkey was one of eight countries exempted from the demand to stop buying Iranian oil.

"We don´t find the (Iran) sanctions appropriate," Erdogan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

"Because to us, they are aimed at upsetting the global balance," he added. "They are against international law and diplomacy. We don´t want to live in an imperial world."

Erdogan´s comments came after his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned that isolating Iran was "dangerous."

"While we were asking (for) an exemption from the United States, we have also been very frank with them that cornering Iran is not wise. Isolating Iran is dangerous and punishing the Iranian people is not fair," he told a press conference during a trip to Japan.