File photo: Iran flexes muscles with large-scale aerial drills to defend airspace on Oct. 17, 2016. (Xinhua)
ANKARA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities told a U.S. Treasury Department delegation that Ankara will not implement new sanctions imposed by Washington on Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.
"A U.S. delegation visited Ankara. We told them that we will not join these sanctions," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by Daily Cumhuriyet.
"We buy oil from Iran and we purchase it in proper conditions. What is the other choice?" Turkish officials told the delegation led by Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. assistant secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, last week.
The minister also said Ankara not only told the U.S. officials that Turkey will not join the sanctions on Iran, but also warned Washington that this move is a wrongdoing.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was put into effect in 2016, and that sanctions on Iran would be reimposed.