Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gestures during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

ANKARA (Reuters) - Relevant authorities are working to prevent Turkey from being negatively impacted by U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Friday after a U.S. delegation held talks in Ankara on upcoming sanctions.

In a statement following a visit by a U.S. delegation of Treasury and State Department officials, the ministry said Iran was an important neighbor for Turkey and that Ankara would continue to monitor the U.S. sanctions within this framework.

President Donald Trump in May pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear pact with Iran and ordered tough sanctions on Tehran. Washington has also asked its allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November, a senior State Department official said last month - a call which Ankara has publicly resisted.