Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to challenge a lower court ruling that allows its prosecution over allegations it helped Iran evade American sanctions. The filing came just hours after a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump, which both sides described as “very productive.”
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in October 2024 that Halkbank could be criminally prosecuted, despite its claims of immunity as an instrumentality of a foreign sovereign. The bank is accused of laundering billions of dollars on behalf of Iran through front companies and fake food shipments, allegedly helping Tehran covertly transfer over $20 billion in oil revenues.
Halkbank has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. The case, first brought in 2019, has been a persistent irritant in U.S.–Turkey relations. Erdoğan has repeatedly denounced the prosecution as “ugly” and “unlawful.”
This is the second time the Halkbank case has reached the Supreme Court. In 2023, the Court ruled that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not protect foreign state-owned entities from criminal prosecution, and asked the lower court to reexamine the matter under common law immunity. The 2nd Circuit ultimately concluded that no such immunity applied.
While the content of Monday’s Erdoğan–Trump call was not made public in full, the timing of the petition suggests the Halkbank case remains a sensitive issue in bilateral talks. Both leaders reportedly discussed regional conflicts, including Ukraine and Gaza, and extended mutual invitations for future visits.
The Supreme Court has yet to post Halkbank’s petition on its docket.
