Hurriyet Daily News reported Thursday that Iran is looking to deepen the involvement of the Turkish financial sector in its oil and gas trade with Ankara, and is more specifically seeking “another Turkish lender to take part in its oil transactions along with the state-owned Halkbank.” Tehran’s moves were revealed by Turkey’s Development Minister Cevdet Yilmaz, who explained that the Iranians were uncomfortable with Halkbank being the single channel for the $30 billion in expected trade.
Hurriyet read the new developments alongside years of energy-driven transactions between Turkey and Iran:
Halkbank has been under scrutiny over its gold trade with Iran during last year’s corruption probe. The bank’s ties with Iranian business had drawn Western disapproval amid U.S.-led efforts to curb Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
Turkey has bought natural gas and oil from Iran through an indirect system whereby Iranian exporters received payments through Halkbank Turkish Lira accounts and used that money to buy gold. The bulk of that gold was then shipped from Turkey to Dubai, where Iran could import or sell it for foreign currency. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to visit Turkey on June 9 to bolster bilateral ties.
Those trade arrangements had in turn long been heatedly condemned by Western analysts and diplomats not just for busting through Western sanctions on Iran – though certainly for that – but also for exposing large swaths of the international banking system to illicit finance schemes. Top figures from Halkbank itself had last December been implicated in a massive graft scandal that involved accusations involving billions of dollars related to energy and gold schemes.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday conveyed a leak sourced to an Iranian official revealing that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani would visit Turkey:
The Iranian leader is expected to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara for talks on bilateral ties and the broader Middle East, the official told AFP on Thursday.
“The visit has been in the making for a while, and Rouhani is expected to be flanked by a crowded delegation of ministers,” according to the official speaking on condition of anonymity.
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