Iran ready to open new chapter in relations with Belarus

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Sergey Martynov underlined Tehran's preparedness to open a new chapter in bilateral relations and mutual cooperation with Minsk. During the meeting in Minsk on Tuesday, The two top diplomats stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran and Belarus can play complementary roles in different aspects of their relations. "Iran as a great country with 75mln population and abundant capabilities and Belarus as a crossroad linking Western to Eastern Europe and the North-South Corridor enjoy many potentials for cooperation," Salehi said. Martynov, for his part, described mutual cooperation between Iran and Belarus as a factor which reinvigorates bilateral relations between the two countries, and said this cooperation serves the interests of both nations, while it also promotes peace and security in the region. Tehran and Minsk have in recent months increased efforts to start a jump in mutual cooperation. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in December 2009 that Tehran and Minsk were laying the foundations for broader ties and intended to promote relations to the highest level possible. Also, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergey Sidorskiy in a meeting with Iran's Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani in November 2009 urged the Iranian side to increase the volume of trade cooperation with Minsk. Noting that the current volume of economic cooperation between Tehran and Minsk stands at about $100mln, Sidorskiy reiterated that the opening of the second Iranian Bank in Belarus should help boost the volume to $1bln. The National Bank of Belarus registered two Iranian banks, namely the 'Onerbank' and 'Trading Capital Bank (TC Bank)', respectively in October 2009 and December 2008. The Belarusian official also expressed satisfaction over his country's joint investment with Iran in the car industry as well as oil, petrochemical and development projects.