US Sanctions Announcement Irks Brazil, Turkey

Turkish PM Questions Security Council Credibility

After declaring the Turko-Brazilian diplomatic push with Iran the “last chance” to settle the Western dispute with Iran without sanctions, the US did an end-around of the diplomatic process today, announcing that they had made a deal to sanction Iran even though a deal had been successfully reached in the talks.

Neither Brazil nor Turkey, two key US allies and current non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, appear to be very pleased with the announcement, with Brazilian officials saying they won’t even participate in the discussion of the sanctions at this point.

Turkey, which was to act as the intermediary in the third party enrichment deal, seems even more angry about the announcement, with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warning that it might “spoil the atmosphere” of the talks.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan was even more outspoken, saying that the move seriously damaged the credibility of the UN Security Council, particularly as its permanent members are all armed with nuclear weapons while seeking to punish Iran for its purely civilian program.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.