President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the conclusion of a strategic partnership agreement with Iran. He said this at a meeting with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian in Minsk on 20 August, reports the state-run BelTA.
He called it a “good outcome” of the recent shifts in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Lukashenko also called the strikes on Iran’s IAEA-monitored nuclear infrastructure “a serious threat to regional and international stability and security.”
“We support Iran’s legitimate right to develop a peaceful atom. I am convinced that in order to achieve sustainable peace it is important to refrain from any actions that could provoke a new escalation,” he said.
Also, Lukashenko, who has previously repeatedly stated that the sanctions have no negative impact on the economy, has now called them “economic terrorism.”
“Belarus considers the illegal restrictive measures imposed as a collective measure against Minsk and Tehran as economic terrorism. Our republics are successfully resisting this aggressive and hypocritical sanctions war.”
In turn, in a press statement, Pezeshkian expressed readiness to fight against the “unipolar world” together with Belarus, and invited Lukashenko to visit Iran at any time, reports the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty.
Earlier, Alexander Lukashenko said about Belarus’ intention to deepen cooperation with Iran in all spheres, including military.
The American Institute for the Study of War has previously repeatedly analysed Russia’s cooperation with North Korea, China, Iran and Belarus and the threat it could pose to the West.