Islam Times - Sanctions against Iran ineffective: Turkish foreign minister

Islam Times - Turkey has dismissed the US-led sanctions against Iran as ineffective and cautioned that any military strike against the Islamic Republic would create a disaster in the region.

During a news conference on Friday, Davutoglu added that Turkey is requesting a waiver from the new US sanctions against Iran since the embargoes affect the Turkish economy.

Turkey is almost entirely dependent on Iranian and Russian gas to meet its energy needs, he added.

The country also imports a significant amount of Iranian oil for its biggest petrochemical company, Tupras, which operates four refineries with a total crude oil processing capacity of 28.1 million tons a year.

The Turkish minister also warned about the repercussions of attacking Iran.

“I am telling you, a military strike is a disaster. It should not be an option,” Ahmet Davutoglu told a gathering at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, on Friday.

The Turkish top diplomat was reacting to reports that Israeli and US officials have not ruled out a military option against Iran's nuclear sites, adding that Ankara does not want to see another conflict in the region and will never endorse it.

The West has heightened sanctions against Iran as the US and Israel’s war rhetoric against the country is intensified.

Recently, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has reportedly said there is a strong possibility that Israel will launch an attack on Iran in April, May, or June 2012.

The US, Israel, and their Western allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the United Nations Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Rejecting the allegations, Iran says it has every right to peaceful nuclear activities as an International Atomic Energy Agency member state and a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty.