Since 1979, the United States has a strained relationship with Iran while Turkey is a member of NATO, which the U.S. is also part of. Although relations between Ankara and Washington have strained since 2010s, nonetheless the United States still seeks to preserve alliance with Turkey to deter Iran and Iranian expansionism, which caused criticism.[67] Turkey has opposed sanctions on Iran in recent years, while on the same times supports various American policies to counter Iran, notably the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, which Turkey secretly approved to remove an Iranian threat for its ambitions.[68][69][70][71][72]