ANKARA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will do everything to protect its firms in cooperation with Iran from U.S. sanctions, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said Friday.
His remarks came after the U.S. Treasury Department decided to impose sanctions on several Iranian and Turkish individuals and companies in a bid to target Iranian airlines.
"Imposing sanctions against Iran has started, we are closely monitoring it. We will take every initiative to protect our companies cooperating with Iran," the spokesman said at a press conference.
Turkey is continuing talks with the U.S., he added.
In a statement on its website, the U.S. Treasury Department accused Turkish companies of enabling targeted Iranian airline Mahan Air to secure key aviation goods and services and sustain its fleet of Western-manufactured aircraft.
Turkish citizen Gulnihal Yegane and a network of firms based in Istanbul, including Trigron Lojistik, RA Havacilik and 3G Lojistik, are on the black list of U.S. sanctions.
According to the statement, these businesses purchased export-controlled U.S.-origin engines from foreign vendors, and forwarded them to Mahan Air.
