IranÂ’s foreign minister is set to visit Turkey on Saturday in the midst of a high-level corruption probe looking into illicit money transfers to Tehran.
Mohammad Javad ZarifÂ’s trip comes as Turkey seeks to improve economic and political ties with its neighbour but with the government in Ankara embroiled in a deep political crisis over the corruption scandal.
Dozens of people were arrested last month, including allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused of bribery over construction projects and allegations of gold smuggling to Iran aimed at dodging international sanctions.
Iranian officials on Monday arrested Babak Zanjani, a tycoon is believed to have played a major role in busting sanctions imposed on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme. Zanjani was involved in illegal gold sales from Turkey to Iran that sparked the graft investigation, according to media reports.
| This is for show, of course. He's being detained at a luxury hotel suite. I imagine he's even gotten harem girls... |
TurkeyÂ’s state-owned Halkbank has come under the spotlight in the sweeping investigation, accused of being involved in the illegal gold sales to Iran in return for energy imports. Halkbank chief executive Suleyman Aslan was arrested and charged with taking bribes after police reportedly found $4.5 million stashed in shoeboxes in his home.
| Sounds like in Illinois pol... |
But the bank denied any wrongdoing
and said it stopped transactions to Iran as of June last year after the United States announced further sanctions against the Islamic republic.
The government has defended the bank, with Erdogan claiming that it was being targeted by unnamed international plotters.
“This bank is intimidating Turkey’s enemies,” said the Turkish premier last month.
Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Tuesday that Halkbank was the only bank which could do business with Iran and that it gained the trust of Tehran and Washington.
| Only if it gave the CIA all the important account numbers... |
IranÂ’s ailing economy has been struggling in recent years under an array of international sanctions designed to coerce it into to reining in its controversial nuclear ambitions.
Turkey, which has very few resources of its own, is dependent on gas and oil imports from the neighbouring country.
| Which is why they want Mosul... |
Turkey and Iran are keen on mending fences after the June election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which has seen renewed talks with world powers on its contested nuclear programme. |