ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey’s president has again criticized U.S. sanctions on Iran and vowed to continue to cooperate with Tehran.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the comments on Thursday at a joint news conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Erdogan says Turkey aims to increase bilateral trade with Iran to $30 billion from the current $11 billion.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled America out of the 2015 nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers in May and re-imposed sanctions. Turkey was among U.S. allies allowed to continue purchasing Iranian oil as long as they work to reduce imports.

Erdogan said: “The U.S. (sanctions) put regional safety and stability into danger and we do not support them.”

He added: “We will continue to stand by the brotherly Iranian people.”

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