Why is Washington going soft on the Turkish banks enabling Iran’s terrorism?

Excerpt

The Turkish state-owned lender Halkbank has served as a conduit for illicit Iranian financing networks. It was indicted in the U.S. in 2019 for one of the largest sanctions-evasion schemes in modern history, and at least two of its employees were convicted during the first Trump administration for their involvement.

Yet despite overwhelming evidence that the bank helped Iran bypass U.S. sanctions, the White House has now granted Ankara a lenient settlement that lets the bank itself avoid prosecution. This outcome — now all but a done deal and requiring only a judge’s signature — undermines both sanctions enforcement and American credibility.

Between 2012 and 2013, Halkbank played a pivotal role in converting Iranian oil revenues trapped in Turkish accounts into Turkish lira, then gold and ultimately cash, which was in turn smuggled back to Iran.

Sinan Ciddi is a senior fellow and director of the Turkey Program at Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Tyler Stapleton serves as senior director of government relations at FDD Action. Max Meizlish is a research fellow with the Center on Economic and Financial Power at Foundation for Defense of Democracies.