BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/05/2007

Ahmadinejad heralds bright prospects for Tehran-Minsk cooperation

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Tehran and Minsk are determined to strive for profound cooperation.

Iranian president made the remarks in his joint press conference with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko prior to departing Minsk.

The two nations are to reconstruct their countries, he said.

The bullying powers are opposed to Iran-Belarus cooperation and would finally have to bow to firm determination of the nations, he said.

Tehran and Minsk enjoy very friendly relations independent of malevolent powers or even by their pressures, he pointed out.

Thanking the very warm reception of the Belarus government and people, he said Iran and Belarus have invaluable common characteristics and have adopted common stand on regional and international issues.

"We had fruitful talks on issues of mutual interests and reached very good agreements with the Belarus officials," he said.

There is no limits or barriers for expansion of mutual relations between the two countries, he said adding that "we consider Belarussian developments as our own and are quite confident that they have the same feelings."

There exist huge untapped grounds for expansion of economic cooperation at various sectors, he said.

Iran and Belarus are determined to help resolve international issues which would be to the benefit of regional peace and security, he said adding that the two sides stand on global issues is very crystal clear and constructive and "We are opposed to unilateralism, global hegemony and arrogant approaches."

The Belarus president, for his part, called the negotiations with Iranian president as very 'positive and constructive' and said there is no unresolved issues between the two countries.

"We do not heed others' views about expansion of mutual relations with Tehran and we declare that the visit materialized our mutual goals," he said.

He lauded Iran's stand on Belarus on energy sector and said "we are willing to adopt a diversified economic development to meet our long run needs."

"We truly confess that we are dependent on energy and during the visit we called for Iranian delegation to help us resolve this problem," he said.

Iranian officials voiced willingness to launch joint investment in energy sector with Belarus, he said.

"We decided to establish oil and gas companies and Iran could count on our support.

"We are to broaden our cooperation based on respecting each other's interests. If anyone thinks that Iran-Belarus relations would be limited, it is mistake," he said.

"Iran and Belarus signed an agreement to resolve their financial problems through an Iranian bank.

"The two sides have also removed existing red-tapes on customs formalities to promote economic cooperation," President Lukashenko said.

Source:

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0705220169180319.htm