BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/05/2007

Iranian, Belarussian presidents vow to boost cooperation

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Monday hailed bilateral ties and pledged to promote cooperation in various fields, according to reports.

Relations between Tehran and Minsk have developed to a "level of strategic partnership," the Belarussian Telegraph Agency quoted Lukashenko as saying during a meeting between the two heads of states in Minsk.

"There are no closed topics between Belarus and Iran today. We are prepared to cooperate in all areas," Lukashenko said, noting Belarus will fulfill commitments it has made to Iran. But the reports did not provide any further details.

Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Minsk early Monday for a two-day official visit, called Lukashenko one of his "best friends."

"We have established strong ties for a long-time. We are friends, and we are full of determination to develop the relations," the Itar-Tass News Agency quoted him as saying.

Iran and Belarus have strived to promote economic and political relations in recent years and two-way trade hit about 36 million U.S. dollars last year.

"The cornerstone of our policies is that we are against a unipolar world," the Interfax News Agency quoted Iranian Ambassador to Belarus Abdolhamid Fekri as saying.

The ambassador said that the two nations share broad prospects for oil cooperation and Iran is interested in buying Belarussian farm machines and assembling Iranian cars in the country.

Source:

http://english.people.com.cn/200705/22/eng20070522_376619.html

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