Minister expects resolution to truck crisis

ANKARA - Reuters

Iran has suspended the sealing of trucks’ gas tanks temporarily.

The truck crisis between Turkey and Iran has been resolved to a large extent by a temporary suspension on sealing Turkish trucks’ gas tanks at the Iranian border, and Turkey now expects this suspension to be permanent, said Customs Minister Nurettin Canikli Dec. 13.

“It now appears that the truck problem with Iran has been resolved to a large extent. Our expectation is to see the resolution of this problem permanently,” he said.

He noted that the sealing of Turkish trucks at the Iranian border would harm both economies, and Iran suspended this practice temporarily after a series of negotiations with Turkey.

Iran had started to seal the gas tanks of Turkish trucks on Dec. 1, but the number of trucks passing through the border decreased dramatically due to the extending of procedure hours, as well as the decrease in bilateral trade. Iran then decided to suspend the sealing temporarily on Dec. 4.

“The problem has been resolved for a 15-day period, but we expect Iran to suspend the sealing permanently,” Canikli said, adding that both sides had acted very positively.