September 06-13
Turkey says its has halted all gold exports to Iran as a result of US sanctions on such transactions.
The Islamic Republic had been relying on gold to get around US banking restrictions that made it hard for the country to engage in routine financial transactions.
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan announced August 16 that all Turkish gold sales to Iran had ended in July after the new US sanctions specifically targeting gold sales to Iran took effect.
Iran bought only 1 ton of gold from Turkey in 2011 before the banking restrictions were tightened. But in 2012, Iran bought 126 tons of gold from Turkey, according to published UN trade statistics.