Turkey announced on Monday that it would not respect sanctions on oil imports from Iran after President Donald Trump decided to begin ending exemptions for oil buyers from the Islamic Republic.
"His country does not accept unilateral sanctions or dictations concerning the nature of the relations we have with our neighbors," Foreign Minister Mouloud Zhaoshoglu was quoted as saying by state news agency Anatolia.
He warned that the US move to end the exemptions "will not serve regional peace and stability."
Trump decided to end the exemptions that allowed eight countries to buy Iranian oil, with the aim of achieving zero exports of crude in that country.
Starting in early May, China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan, Italy and Greece will face US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil.
In November, Washington re-imposed heavy economic sanctions on Tehran and all the countries it does not exclude after its withdrawal from the international agreement on Iran´s nuclear program, signed in 2015.
Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo stressed that the United States would punish countries that buy Iranian oil after May 2, without specifying the scope of the sanctions.
"We have made it clear that if it does not comply, there will be sanctions," Pompeo told reporters.
One of the countries most affected by the US decision is China and Turkey.
Other countries, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, have already significantly reduced purchases from Iran.
