BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/05/2007

Iran mullahs eyes on Belarus

Mullahs' President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Belarus Monday and held talks with President Alexander Lukashenko, an authoritarian leader who has been courting other vehement opponents of the United States.

"We have huge potential (for cooperation) in the long-term perspective," Ahmadinejad, who was greeted by an honour guard at Lukashenko's headquarters, said in televised comments, speaking through an interpreter. "The strengthening of relations between Belarus and Iran fosters support for regional and global security." Lukashenko said Belarus is "ready for cooperation in all directions."

According to Lukashenko's press service, Lukashenko told Ahmadinejad that "relations between Belarus and Iran have reached the level of strategic partnership," while the Iranian leader said he considers the Belarusian president one of his best friends. During a two-day visit, Ahmadinejad was also expected to tour Belarusian enterprises and a national library in the ex-Soviet republic of 10 million.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said last week that the main issues to be discussed during the visit concerned energy, trade and science. Ahmadinejad led a delegation including the foreign minister, commerce minister, lawmakers and the director of an Iranian auto company, according to Belarusian officials. Lukashenko, who visited Iran in November, is widely referred to in the West as "Europe's last dictator" for his stifling of government opponents and independent news media in the nation of 10 million, whose economy remains largely under Soviet-style state control.

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko promised Ahmadinejad cooperation "in all areas" at the start of talks between the two leaders. "Belarus and Iran are subjects of international law. There are no forbidden topics for Belarus and Iran. We are ready to cooperate in all areas," Lukashenko said in televised comments. The two-day visit was meant to strengthen personal ties, as well as build on a raft of new trade agreements the two signed at a meeting in Tehran in November.

"We are full of determination to carry out all the agreements we reached in Tehran and will reach in Minsk," Ahmadinejad told the Belarussian president. Lukashenko has been a vocal supporter of Iran's controversial nuclear program, while Ahmadinejad has praised the Belarussian president, condemned by Washington as "the last dictator in Europe."

The two presidents held talks expected to focus on energy, trade and technology, after which Ahmadinejad was due to visit Belarussian manufacturing facilities. Bilateral trade stood at 35.6 million dollars (26.5 million euros) in 2006, according to the Belarussian foreign ministry, though the two countries hope new deals in the oil sector and car and tractor industries will lift this to 350 million dollars.

Ahmadinejad is locked in a standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which the United States and other nations fear is a front for an effort to develop atomic weapons. He praised the visiting Lukashenko in November as a "brave and powerful" leader for opposing US policies.

Source:

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_22055.shtml