Turkey has exchanged nearly 60 tons of gold for several million tons of Iranian crude oil, despite its promises to uphold Western sanctions on Iran's energy sector, according to recent Turkish reports.By using gold instead of money, Turkey is able to skirt Western sanctions on Iran's oil trade, particularly those pertaining to SWIFT, the global money transfer service that until recently assisted the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian financial institutions.
Over the past several months, Turkey has given Iran 60 tons of gold, or more than $3 billion, according to a July 8 report on the Turkish news site Vatan Online. The report was translated by the Open Source Center, a translation service used by the CIA.
The exchanges raise questions about the B.O. regime's decision to grant Turkey a temporary waiver exempting it from U.S. sanctions to Iran, according to foreign policy experts and those on Capitol Hill who speculated that the revelation could spur Congress to pass a new round of Iran sanctions to prevent such trades.
Gold payments to Iran have been taking place "for some time," state the Turkish reports, but have peaked in the past few months as global sanctions against Iran continue to choke its economy. In May, Turkish trade with Iran hit an unprecedented high at $1.7 billion, a leap of 513 percent, according to Turkish statistics and various reports.
Turkey, which is the fifth largest importer of Iranian oil, exported more than $3 billion worth of gold to Iran in the first five months of this year, according to data compiled by the Turkish Statistical Institute and reported on by Today's Zaman Online, an Istanbul-based news organization; others estimated that the price could be even higher.
Turkey imports around 8 million tons of crude oil annually from Iran on average.