MINSK, 26 October (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei held talks with Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during the official visit to Iran. Following the talks, the Belarusian minister made a statement for media, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vladimir Makei noted that he and his Iranian counterpart had a substantive discussion of a wide range of topical issues of bilateral cooperation. Specific agreements were reached to expand ties in trade, economy, investment and other areas of mutual interest.
"The approaches of Belarus and Iran coincide on most important issues on the international agenda. The two parties maintain constructive interaction in international organizations. Today we once again discussed this area in detail," Vladimir Makei said.
There is a positive trend in improving the legal framework of bilateral relations. Inter-parliamentary dialogue is developing dynamically. Delegations are exchanged at the governmental and regional levels.
"The international situation necessitates keeping the dynamics of this exchange very high. Today we also discussed this cooperation in great detail. We will continue to consistently pursue a policy aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation between our countries in all areas," the Belarusian minister of foreign affairs said.
He stressed that Belarus, like Iran, opposes unilateral illegal economic sanctions that go beyond the international law. "First of all, sanctions damage the economies of countries and ordinary citizens, contribute to the growth of tension. In fact, I also agree with the minister's logic that this is economic terrorism against our states," Vladimir Makei said. “Of course, together we must develop adequate measures to respond to such acts of economic terrorism. I am confident that the agreements reached during today's meeting will help us harness the existing opportunities for the development and strengthening of long-term strategic partnership between our countries."
Vladimir Makei also expressed satisfaction with the results of the 15th meeting of the joint Belarusian-Iranian commission on economic cooperation held in Minsk. Currently, practical work is underway to implement the tasks set during the meeting of this commission. "Already now we see significant successes in trade and economy, but the potential of bilateral trade has not been realized to the full. I agree with my Iranian counterpart that the level of our trade and economic cooperation, unfortunately, still lags behind the political cooperation. Therefore, we will continue to make every effort to reach a qualitatively new high level of trade and economic cooperation," Vladimir Makei said.
