Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Visit to Belarus

[december]

This is what George Bush and Co. really hate to see... :)

Official welcoming ceremony for the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad


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Belarusian-Iranian bilateral relations have reached the level of strategic partnership

21.05.2007

The bilateral relations between Belarus and Iran have reached the level of strategic partnership, said the Head of the Belarusian State, Alexander Lukashenko, at a meeting with the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on May 21.

The two Presidents held both closed-door talks and enlarged talks. A major focus during the talks was placed on the possibilities to boost the mutual goods turnover, to step up investments, and to broaden cooperation in the oil and gas sector. The parties exchanged views on international problems of current importance.

Alexander Lukashenko and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a joint communiqué on the results of the visit by the President of Iran to Belarus.
The two leaders will continue their dialogue on May 22 during the visit to the National Library of Belarus.

http://president.gov.by/en/press45064.html#doc

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[december]

Belarus to start oil, gas production in Iran soon - Lukashenko

21/ 05/ 2007


MINSK, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus will soon begin extracting oil and natural gas in Iran, President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Belarus on an official two-day visit to discuss energy and trade cooperation with the ex-Soviet state.

"We will soon be able to extract, refine and market hydrocarbons, including natural gas, in any part of the world," he said following negotiations with Ahmadinejad.

Belarus and Iran intend to increase trade turnover 1,300%, to $500 million a year, they said in a communique. In 2006, bilateral trade was worth $35.5 million.

Lukashenko told the Iranian president that relations between Belarus and Iran "have reached a level of strategic partnership" and thanked Iran for giving Belarus access to an oil field, referring to the Jofeir deposit.

"Experts have surveyed the deposit, and we are ready to start oil production there," he said.

The Belarusian and Iranian presidents discussed bilateral relations and said they are opposed to the formation of a unipolar world order.

"We are against a unipolar world in which some states influence others," Ahmadinejad said.

He also said Lukashenko is "one of his best friends," adding that deeper bilateral relations between Belarus and Iran will help strengthen peace and security both regionally and globally.

The Belarusian president visited the resource-rich Islamic Republic last November seeking to diversify its energy sources and reduce its energy dependence on Russia.

Lukashenko, famously dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington for his crackdown on democracy and human rights and denied the right to travel to the U.S. and the EU, has also been exploring possibilities for energy cooperation with other oil-exporting countries, such as Azerbaijan and Venezuela, following an energy row with Russia early this year.

The Belarus delegation at the United Nations in New York moved in November to back Iran in its long-running international dispute over its nuclear program.

Iran is under UN economic and diplomatic sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used in nuclear weapons production. Tehran claims it is only interested in electricity generation.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070521/65821235.html