US will lose from decision to withdraw from Iran nuclear deal: Erdoğan

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The United States will be the one to lose from President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear pact with Iran, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 9, after Trump announced he pulled Washington out of a landmark deal curbing Iran’s nuclear program and reimposed crippling sanctions on May 8.

Erdoğan told CNN International he fears new crises will break out in the Middle East as a result of the U.S. abandoning the Iran deal.

“We don’t need new crises in the region,” Erdoğan said, adding that Trump’s decision is not just going to impact the region, but the entire world.

Erdoğan said Trump’s move will put the entire world economy at stake.

“That is the reason why Turkey will be hit but the United States may certainly have some positive gain from this withdrawal or the rising oil prices. However, many of the countries in poverty will be hit even harder and deeper,” he added.

Risk of conflicts

When asked whether he has concerns of a geopolitical war breaking out as a result, “that is not what we would wish to see, of course this is not what we would like to expect,” said Erdoğan.

“However, in my point of view, the U.S. will be the one to lose,” he said.

“Iran will never compromise on this agreement, and will abide by this agreement to the end. That’s what I think. However, the U.S. will lose in the end,” Erdoğan told CNN.

The Turkish president also said Trump should have respected the agreement signed by the previous administration.

“This is not how international mechanisms work. International covenants and international conventions cannot be annulled upon will. If any document bears your signature, you need to respect that. You need to abide by that,” he said.

Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on his Twitter account that the multilateral agreement would remain in place thanks to other countries’ participation, while Trump’s decision would cause instability and new conflicts.

“Turkey will maintain its resolute stance against all forms of nuclear weapons,” Kalın added.

“Unfortunately, the U.S. decision has an approach that will open doors to very bad developments,” EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik also tweeted.

“While there is no evidence that Iran is violating the agreement, the U.S. decision means it takes the exact opposite position of its allies. We are at a time where more negotiations are needed,” Çelik said.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry stated on May 8 that the U.S.’ decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was an “unfortunate step.”

“Turkey has always defended the stance that issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiations and has made intensive efforts in this direction,” the ministry said in a press release on its website.

Business as usual with Iran

Meanwhile, the Economy Minister suggested that despite the U.S.’ decision to pull out of the deal, Turkey will maintain commercial ties with Iran.

“Turkey will continue to trade with Iran as much as possible and will not answer to anyone in this regard,” Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci told private broadcaster CNN Türk on May 8.