Belarus president urges expansion of cooperation with Iran to jointly withstand Western sanctions, pressure

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called for the expansion of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of Western pressure and sanctions.

In a meeting with Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Tuesday, Lukashenko pointed to US-led attempts to stoke tensions across the West Asia region amid ongoing Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

“The West is spearheading the Middle East war against Iran, and Tehran and Minsk should cooperate more closely to counter Western attacks,” the Belarusian president said.

Touching on the sanctions against Iran and Belarus, Lukashenko added, “The pressure on our countries is unprecedented, but you have already learned to resist such pressures to some extent and your experience is valuable for us.”

He expressed his surprise about the Islamic Republic’s great capabilities to withstand the West’s restrictive measures, saying “Iran has not reduced the level of its development; on the contrary, it has significantly increased it.”

Underlining the need to “work faster” to expand Tehran-Minsk cooperation, Lukashenko said if the two sides reach an agreement on something, it should be implemented in due course.

“The most important issue for us is time, not sanctions or pressure; we must not lose time,” he added.

Mokhber, at the head of a high-ranking delegation, arrived in Minsk earlier in the day to confer with the country’s senior officials on the most important mutual and international issues.

The day-long visit, which came after an official invitation by the Belarusian prime minister, is expected to result in the signing of cooperation documents between Tehran and Minsk as well as further consolidation of their ties.

‘Trade volume can reach one billion dollars’

In a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Mokhber called for the expansion of economic and trade relations between the two sides in parallel with their bilateral political ties.

Pointing to the 30-year-long political relations between Iran and Belarus, Mokhber said the economic ties between the two countries have not expanded in proportion to their high level of political relations, and that Iran and Belarus are determined to deepen and strengthen their economic and commercial cooperation.

“By boosting interaction and removing obstacles, the level of commercial and economic exchanges between Iran and Belarus can be increased to one billion dollars per year,” he added.

Mokhber also underlined that the two countries should use their national currencies in payments for their agreements and exchanges.

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