HIGHDIPLOMATIC
Turkey's Halkbank settles US Iran sanctions case mid-war — deferred prosecution, no fines
·Ankara, Turkey / Washington DC
Turkey's state bank Halkbank reaches deferred prosecution agreement with US DOJ over Iran sanctions violations. Bank pays no fines, admits no wrongdoing. Case that dogged Turkey-US relations for years resolved at the height of the Iran war — widely seen as US diplomatic sweetener for Turkey's cooperation.
Turkey's state-run Halkbank announced it has reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice to settle a years-long criminal case over violating sanctions on Iran. Under the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, the bank 'will not admit to any criminal offenses, nor will it pay any judicial or administrative fines,' the bank said on X. The case — which involved Halkbank allegedly helping Iran evade billions in US sanctions through a Turkish gold-for-gas scheme — had been a major irritant in Turkey-US relations for years, leading to a diplomatic rupture during Trump's first term. The timing of the settlement — at the height of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Turkey hosting NATO's Kurecik radar and deploying F-16s to Cyprus — strongly suggests the deal is connected to Ankara's cooperation with US war aims. Erdogan has walked a careful line: allowing NATO infrastructure use and taking in a Patriot battery while not formally joining the coalition. The DOJ settlement may be Washington's side of a quid pro quo for Turkish cooperation. Turkey did not comment on the timing beyond the bank's statement.
Sources