"The negotiations in September 2022 in Samarkand gave a strong impetus to Belarusian-Iranian interaction in all spheres.

I expect to visit Tehran in the near future and discuss topical issues of the bilateral, regional and international agenda," Lukashenka's press service quoted as congratulating him.

According to Lukashenka, Iran plays "an important role in the region and in the whole world", demonstrating "the rapid dynamics of economic development and the growth of the population's well-being in today's difficult conditions."

In his congratulation, he emphasized that Belarus "at all times remained close to Iran, remained loyal to friendship and equal dialogue, and was responsible for the implementation of the agreements reached."

The trade turnover of Belarus and Iran in 2021 amounted to 33.3 million dollars.

There are no data for 2022 yet, according to Iran's ambassador to Belarus Said Yara, this indicator "has tripled".

  • Iran, which has been under the sanctions of the UN Security Council for about 15 years due to its nuclear program, has been criticized since the past for the probable assistance of Russia in military aggression against Ukraine.

    Democratic countries accuse Tehran of selling Shahed-136 kamikaze drones to Russia, which Russia uses to damage Ukrainian infrastructure, including civilian infrastructure.

    Iran denies supplying drones to Russia.

  • Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly stated that Belarus is participating in a "special military operation" in Ukraine, supporting Russia in every possible way, but "not killing anyone."

    This term is used by the Russian, and by it, the leadership of Belarus calls the full-scale war against the Ukrainian people, which Russia started on February 24 of last year.

    At the same time, Lukashenka directly calls the conflict unleashed by Russia a war.

  • The authorities in Minsk deny the participation of the Belarusian army in hostilities on the side of Russia, at the same time, the territory of Belarus was actively used by the Russian army to attack Ukraine from the beginning of the invasion, as well as in separate periods later.