Belarus and Iran to “stick together and take their place under the sun”

Belarus and Iran have promised to stick together following a meeting between their presidents on Friday, September 16.

The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a bilateral meeting with the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi in Samarkand on the eve of the meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the SCO member states.

“We have to stick together to not just survive but take our place under the sun,” the Belarusian head of state said.

He also outlined two vectors for the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and Iran: to intensify relations and review them.

The meeting comes just after Iran has been admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as reported on Thursday, September 15.

In order for Iran to be admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Secretary General Zhang Ming signed the memorandum of commitment as a member of the association on the sCO summit currently taking place in Samarkand.

In addition, Iran has promised to strengthen relations with Russia after Putin commented that trade turnover between the nations had increased 30 per cent in 2022, as reported on Thursday, September 15.

Russia and Iran increased their goods turnover by 81% last year and by another 30% in the five months of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on September 15.