Trump’s Jubilation over ‘Economic Hardship’ of Turkey ‘Shameful’: Iran’s FM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described US President Donald Trump’s jubilation over imposing higher tariffs against Turkey as “shameful”.

“Trump’s jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful. The US has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions & bullying or entire world will unite—beyond verbal condemnations—to force it to. We’ve stood with neighbors before, and will again now,” Zarif said in a message posted on his official Twitter account on Saturday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Turks on Friday to sell their gold and US dollars to support the country’s currency which plunged after Trump escalated a feud with NATO ally Turkey by doubling tariffs on metals imports.

The Turkish lira TRYTOM=D3 has long been falling on worries about Erdogan’s influence over monetary policy and worsening relations with the United States.

On Friday, the currency dropped as much as 18 percent at one point, the biggest one-day fall since a 2001 financial crisis in Turkey.

Reverberations spread through global financial markets, with European stock markets especially hit as investors took fright over banks’ exposure to Turkey. US stocks were also rattled.

The lira has lost more than 40 percent this year. It hit a record low after Trump announced he had authorized higher tariffs on imports from Turkey, imposing duties of 20 percent on aluminum and 50 percent on steel.

The lira, Trump said on Twitter, “slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!”

“Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!” he wrote.