Turkey’s Minister of Treasury and Finance warned companies and financial institutions in the country that they must avoid any transactions that would fall under U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Muhammad Şimşek said that protecting the integrity of Turkey’s financial system is one of the government’s top priorities: “Ankara is determined in its fight against the financing of terrorism, money laundering, illegal financial activities, evading sanctions, and illegal trade, and in this regard it has close cooperation with the United States and other partners and allies.”

The United States has recently sanctioned Turkey’s Golden Global Bank and two entities under it for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.

He also said that in exchange for importing gas from Iran, Turkey does not pay money directly to this country, and that in exchange for the gas delivered, Iran buys from Turkey goods that are not subject to sanctions, and this mechanism has previously been coordinated with the United States.