TEHRAN – Sanctions on Iran are “illegal” and a “wrong political decision,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavushoglu said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Chavushoglu said that U.S. sanctions on Turkey and Russia had no effect on the cooperation between Moscow and Ankara.

“The West’s sanctions have no effect on Turkish-Russian talks and cooperation,” the chief Turkish diplomat said, according to Fars News agency. “We oppose sanctions on any country…. We have reiterated many times that these sanctions are illegal. We also believe that sanctions against Iran are illegal and a wrong political decision.”

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran and Turkey, each under different pretexts. The U.S. slapped sanctions on Turkey because it purchased Russian-made S400 missile defense systems while the U.S. has imposed sanctions on Iran because it didn’t like a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.

Turkey has long said that the U.S. sanctions on Iran are wrong. Last year, the Turkish foreign minister said in an interview with Aljazeera that Turkey considers U.S. restrictions on Iran wrong.

“We also consider Washington’s sanctions against Iran wrong,” he said at the time.

SM/PA