U.S. v Atilla

The United States slapped sanctions on a Turkish businessman on Feb. 7 for violating US sanctions on Iran.

The new U.S. sanctions against Iran can have positive consequences for Turkey, an Iranian diplomat has told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkish authorities on Nov. 5 ordered the arrest of gold trader Reza Zarrab, a prosecution witness in the New York trial of a Turkish banker, over unlawful building work, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who was arrested in the U.S. in 2016 over evading sanctions on Iran, has been spotted in New York City while leaving an upscale downtown hotel.

Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who was arrested in the U.S. in 2016 over evading sanctions on Iran, has been photographed at a famous sushi restaurant in New York. 

A New York City jail guard accused of taking more than $45,000 in bribes to supply contraband to an inmate matching the description of wealthy gold trader Reza Zarrab pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges on May 25.

Turkey has slammed the 32-month sentence handed to Hakan Atilla, a former manager of state-run Halkbank, on charges that he helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions.

Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the former deputy chief executive of Halkbank, is definitely innocent, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Bloomberg in an interview on May 14.

A Turkish lawyer was alleged in court papers to have provided thousands of dollars to corrupt a prison guard into smuggling cellphones and alcohol to the Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who was awaiting trial, according to charges lodged on April 5 against the Manhattan federal prison guard and comments by a lawyer who represented Zarrab.

A judge in New York on Feb. 7 turned down the request by former Turkish state banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla to be acquitted of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.