BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/05/2007

Iran, Belarus Cement Ties

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The Iranian and Belarusian presidents on Monday vowed to cement ties in a bid to start what the Belarusian leader called as "a strategic partnership".

The two presidents made the remarks in a meeting in Minsk on Monday.

"We have huge potential (for cooperation) in the long-term perspective," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in televised comments upon arriving at Lukashenko's office.

"The strengthening of relations between Belarus and Iran fosters support for regional and global security," he added.

Lukashenko said Belarus is "ready for cooperation in all directions."

He told Ahmadinejad that "relations between Belarus and Iran have reached the level of strategic partnership," according to a report released by the Presidential Press Office. The Iranian leader, meanwhile, said he considers Lukashenko one of his best friends.

Last November, Ahmadinejad praised the visiting Lukashenko as a "brave and powerful" leader for opposing US policies.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry said last week that the main issues to be discussed during Ahmadinejad's two-day visit involved energy, trade and science. The Iranian leader was expected to tour Belarusian enterprises and a national library.

A year ago, Lukashenko hosted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, another vocal US critic, who made Belarus the first stop on a tour that also took him to Russia, Iran and Vietnam. Belarus has close ties to neighboring Russia, but they have been rather frayed in recent years by disputes over energy prices and supplies.

Ahmadinejad's visit to Belarus takes place while Iran is in the midst of a nuclear standoff with the West.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Monday that concerns about Iran's nuclear program should be resolved through dialogue and that international efforts must focus only on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

"We consider any attempts to isolate Tehran or to use the situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program to achieve any other goals ... to be extremely counterproductive and shortsighted," Lavrov said in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Russia has used its clout in the UN Security Council to water down Western-proposed sanctions against Iran and has warned the United States that overly harsh measures could backfire by deepening Tehran's defiance.

Also Monday, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said his country was leading the world's nations in confronting the United States.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution sent global shock waves by producing a country willing to challenge the US.

"The Islamic system (of Iran) detonated a powerful bomb in the world of politics, which was thousands-fold stronger than the bomb detonated by the US in Hiroshima," Iranian state TV quoted him as saying.

Source:

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8603010244

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