Dubai, UAE, May 10, 2018:  In an exclusive interview- recorded just prior to the US decision to withdraw from the Iran deal- CNN’s Becky Anderson sat down with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey to discuss the US withdrawal and its potential consequences. He told CNN that he fears 'new crises' will break out in the Middle East as a result of the US abandoning the Iran deal, adding that it’s not just going to impact the region, but the entire world.

Key Quotes

On the United States withdrawing from the deal: “This nuclear deal was previously called unsignable but it was rendered possible after years of negativity, raising hope all around the globe in the end and at the drop of a hat turning this deal around and retreating from the deal is not just going to impact the region but also the entire world. The whole world economy is as stake and that is the reason why as Turkey we will be hit and the United States might gain some certain positivities out of the withdrawal from this, or the rising oil prices but many of the countries in poverty will be hit even harder and deeper, but at the same time we fear new crises would break out in the region, we don’t need new crises in the region”
 
Do you believe or are you concerned that a geo-political war will break out, what is the biggest risk here?“That’s not what we would wish to see, of course this is not what we would like to expect, however, in my point of view, the US will be the ones to lose. Iran will never compromise on this agreement and will abide by this agreement till the end, that’s what I think but however the US will lose in the end. Because you should respect an agreement that you have signed, this is not how the international mechanisms work, international governance and international conventions cannot be annulled upon will, if any document is bearing your signature you need to respect that, you need to abide by that”