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Türkiye Denies Lifting Trade Ban on Israel

Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat (AA)
Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat (AA)
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Türkiye Denies Lifting Trade Ban on Israel

Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat (AA)
Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat (AA)

Türkiye said on Thursday that a trade ban imposed on Israel last week will remain in effect until a permanent ceasefire and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza are ensured.
“Israel’s claims of Türkiye lifting its trade ban are absolutely imaginary and have nothing to do with reality,” Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on X.
“The trade ban with Israel will remain in effect until our conditions are met to stop Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, to achieve a permanent ceasefire and to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the strip,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had retreated on his earlier position and lifted many of the trade restrictions he imposed on Israel.
The Turkish presidency’s communications directorate denied Katz’ claims, saying they aim “to manipulate international public opinion.”
Early on Friday, the Turkish Trade Ministry said in a statement on X that it stopped all exports and imports to and from Israel last week, citing “worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territories.
Türkiye “will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli Government allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” it added.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last Friday confirmed the annual trade volume with Israel was $9.5 billion.
“We consider this trade non-existent. We have started a new phase of severing trade relations,” he said.
The Turkish President added that the developments taking place by Israel against the Palestinians cannot be accepted. “So far, Israel has killed about 40,000 Palestinians... As Muslims, we cannot remain silent about these crimes,” he said.
On Thursday, Erdogan affirmed the importance of supporting initiatives to recognize the State of Palestine.
This came in a phone call with his Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silva, according to a statement issued by the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Department.
The statement said the two sides discussed the Türkiye-Brazil bilateral relations, in addition to regional and international issues.
Erdogan then described Brazil’s stance on the Israeli atrocities in Palestinian territories as praiseworthy.

 

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Iran Says Could Abandon Nuclear Weapons But Has Conditions

A sample of the surveillance cameras that monitor the Iranian nuclear facilities presented at a press conference in Vienna. (Reuters)
A sample of the surveillance cameras that monitor the Iranian nuclear facilities presented at a press conference in Vienna. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Could Abandon Nuclear Weapons But Has Conditions

A sample of the surveillance cameras that monitor the Iranian nuclear facilities presented at a press conference in Vienna. (Reuters)
A sample of the surveillance cameras that monitor the Iranian nuclear facilities presented at a press conference in Vienna. (Reuters)

Iran on Saturday hinted it would be willing to negotiate on a nuclear agreement with the upcoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, but that it has conditions.
Last Thursday, the UN atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a “comprehensive” report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks.
Ali Larijani, advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said Iran and the US are now in a new position concerning the nuclear file.
In a post on X, he said, “If the current US administration say they are only against Iran’s nuclear weapons, they must accept Iran’s conditions and provide compensation for the damages caused.”

He added, “The US should accept the necessary conditions... so that a new agreement can be reached.”
Larijani stated that Washington withdrew from the JCPOA, thus causing damage to Iran, adding that his country started increasing its production of 60% enriched uranium.
The Iran nuclear accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was reached to limit the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The deal began unraveling in 2018, when Washington, under Trump’s first administration, unilaterally withdrew from the accord and re-imposed a sanction regime of “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
In retaliation, Iran has rapidly ramped up its nuclear activities, including by increasing its stockpiles of enriched uranium to 60% — close to the 90% threshold required to develop a nuclear bomb.
It also began gradually rolling back some of its commitments by increasing its uranium stockpiles and enriching beyond the 3.67% purity -- enough for nuclear power stations -- permitted under the deal.
Since 2021, Tehran has significantly decreased its cooperation with the IAEA by deactivating surveillance devices to monitor the nuclear program and barring UN inspectors.
Most recently, Iran escalated its confrontations with the Agency by announcing it would launch a series of “new and advanced” centrifuges. Its move came in response to a resolution adopted by the United Nations nuclear watchdog that censures Tehran for what the agency called lack of cooperation.
Centrifuges are the machines that enrich uranium transformed into gas by rotating it at very high speed, increasing the proportion of fissile isotope material (U-235).
Shortly after the IAEA passed its resolution last Thursday, Tehran spoke about the “dual role” of IAEA’s chief, Raphael Grossi.
Chairman of the Iranian Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Ebrahim Azizi said, “The statements made by Grossi in Tehran do not match his actions in Vienna.”
And contrary to the statements of Azizi, who denied his country’s plans to build nuclear weapons, Tehran did not originally want to freeze its uranium stockpile enriched to 60%
According to the IAEA’s definition, around 42 kg of uranium enriched to 60% is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible. The 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Spokesperson and deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said on Friday that IAEA inspectors were scheduled to come immediately after the meeting of the Board of Governors to evaluate Iran’s capacity, “with those capacities remaining for a month without any interruption in enrichment at 60% purity.”
Iran’s news agency, Tasnim, quoted Kamalvandi as saying that “the pressures resulting from the IAEA resolution are counterproductive, meaning that they increase our ability to enrich.”
He added: “Currently, not only have we not stopped enrichment, but we have orders to increase the speed, and we are gradually working on that."