NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - Turkey's Halkbank

asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling

saying it can be prosecuted for allegedly helping Iran evade

American sanctions, a U.S.-based lawyer for the bank said on

Monday.

The Supreme Court had given Halkbank until Monday to file a

petition appealing the October 22, 2024, decision by the 2nd

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan allowing the

prosecution.

In a letter to the appeals court, Halkbank's lawyer Robert

Cary said the bank has filed the petition. The petition was not

available on the Supreme Court's website. Cary did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

Halkbank pleaded not guilty to fraud, money laundering and

conspiracy charges over its alleged use of money servicers and

front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to

evade sanctions.

U.S. prosecutors said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer

$20 billion of restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold

and cash to benefit Iranian interests, and documented fake food

shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.

Brought in 2019, the case has been a thorn in

U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

calling it an "unlawful, ugly" step.

The countries' ties have soured in the last decade, amid

disagreements on Syria, Ankara's ties with Moscow and other

matters.

But on Monday, Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump each

said they had a very productive phone call earlier in the day,

and had invited each other to their respective countries.

Halkbank's case is making a second trip to the Supreme

Court.

In 2023, that court said Congress' desire to shield foreign

countries and their instrumentalities from civil liability under

the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 did not

cover criminal cases.

But in a 7-2 decision, it said the 2nd Circuit should more

fully review whether common law immunity shielded Halkbank,

leading to last October's ruling.