By Denis Krymov
The President of Belarus has recently met the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Belarus, H.E. Mr. Seyyed Abdollah Hosseini. On accepting the diplomat on his completion of his diplomatic mission to Belarus, the Head of State underlined that he doesn’t bid farewell to every ambassador leaving Minsk — only to friends. “I don’t conceal this and I’d like to say that it’s very sad to part with friends,” noted Mr. Lukashenko. He also passed warmest wishes to the President and spiritual leader of Iran.
“As far as our political relations are concerned, we have absolutely no problems,” stressed Mr. Lukashenko. “We have similar views on the world order and on the way the world is developing. As far as the economy is concerned, despite the huge problems which currently exist in the world and the unprecedented pressure faced by Iran economically and financially, we enjoy a healthy volume of bilateral trade.” Although several Belarusian-Iranian projects are yet to be implemented, the Belarusian President emphasised, “Please, tell the leadership of Iran that we’re counting on seeing our collaboration invigorated and are ready to accept investments from Iranian businesses and from the state, in a manner beneficial to Iran.”
Mr. Hosseini summarised his achievements briefly, noting that Iranian investments into Belarus have increased from about $6m to over $960m during his term of office, while mutual trade turnover has tripled. Interaction has expanded from 10 to 75 areas, covering trade, science and culture, with 38 inter-state and inter-departmental agreements signed.
The results are obvious. The Belarusian President noted, “I hope that the Iranian leadership will find a similarly worthy ambassador with whom we can develop relations with the Iranian state and with its people. We’re very eager to do so: not just to develop our relations in the same direction but to add something new. I hope to see this.”
