The leader of Belarus, a key Kremlin ally, welcomes an ‘upgrade’ in ties with Iran.
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The authoritarian leader of Belarus, a staunch Kremlin ally, welcomed an “upgrade” in relations with Iran during a state visit to Tehran on Monday, Belarusian state media reported, as both countries grapple with Western sanctions and greater scrutiny tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus has mirrored Russia’s moves to strengthen ties with countries such as Iran and China, as the United States and European allies enforce sanctions over his support for Moscow’s invasion. His trip to Tehran came as U.S. officials warned about deepening military cooperation between Russia and Iran, an important source of drones and other weapons for Moscow in the yearlong war.
Mr. Lukashenko, who met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing this month, arrived in Iran on Sunday night. After a welcome ceremony featuring national anthems and an honor guard, Mr. Lukashenko and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran sat down on Monday for talks at the presidential palace. In remarks carried by state media, both men brushed off the isolation measures imposed by the West.
“The Iranian president and I agree that sanctions are a time of opportunities,” Mr. Lukashenko said, according to the Belarusian state news agency Belta, praising Iran’s ability to “resist external pressure.” Mr. Raisi echoed that message and said Tehran was “ready to share its experiences” in countering the penalties’ impact, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Mr. Lukashenko said he gave Mr. Raisi “a lot of credit” for improving bilateral relations over the past two years, noting that his own focus on Iran had at one point “somewhat weakened.”
“I often think about this and assume that we were meant to live through this period, a period of a less intense relationship,” he said, according to Belta. “Yet, during this period we realized how much we needed each other, how closely we should cooperate.”
Belta reported that the two men had inked a “comprehensive road map for all-round cooperation between Belarus and Iran” but did not provide further details. While trade between Iran and Belarus has been growing — tripling from $33 million in 2021 to $100 million in 2022, according to Belta — the figures represent a small fraction of Belarus’ trade with other countries with which it enjoys less friendly relations, such as neighboring Poland.
Mr. Lukashenko has been almost wholly reliant on Russia since the Kremlin helped him crush street protests in August 2020 after he claimed an improbable landslide victory in an election whose outcome was widely contested. He depends on subsidized Russian oil and gas, preferential access to the Russian market and Russian security assistance to maintain his 28-year rule.
— Cassandra Vinograd and Andrew Higgins
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