Turkey declines to inspect Iranian cargo

The Ankara government has reportedly rejected a request by the UN to conduct inspections of Iranian cargos at customs checkpoints between Iran and Turkey, Press TV reported.

The UN called on the Turkish government to allow its inspection teams to inspect Iranian cargos at customs checkpoints. Today's Zaman website quoted informed sources as saying that Ankara considers the UN request as contradicting Turkey's friendly ties with its neighboring countries.

It also cited the sources as saying that the Turkish government has rejected the UN request in order to prevent damaging its ties with Iran.

The Turkish government also voted against the imposition of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.

During Turkish President Abdullah Gul's visit to Iran in February and after meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the two sides agreed to increase the value of their annual trade to USD 30 billion.

"We are determined to immediately reach the value of our annual trade transactions with Turkey to USD 30 billion through the expansion of all-out cooperation," said the Iranian president in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart in Tehran on February 14.

He added that the volume of trade between the two countries had surpassed USD 10 billion last year while noting that the two countries could upgrade their trade value to USD 30 billion.


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