TEHRAN – Iran and Belarus signed a series of industrial cooperation agreements during President Masoud Pezeshkian’s official visit to Minsk, Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade said.

Industry Minister Seyed Mohammad Atabak signed the documents, which include standards for trade exchanges between Tehran and Minsk.

Pezeshkian arrived in Belarus late Tuesday, August 19, at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko and was formally welcomed at the presidential palace on Wednesday.

As stated by Belarusian Industry Minister and Co-chair of the Belarusian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Andrei Kuznetsov on the sidelines of the high-level talks between Belarus and Iran at the Palace of Independence in Minsk on August 20, Belarusian Industry Ministry places great importance on the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between Belarus and Iran.

“We highly value the achieved level of interaction and see significant potential for further expansion of bilateral ties. The Industry Ministry is ready to offer Iranian partners a wide spectrum of opportunities for deepening our industrial partnership,” Andrei Kuznetsov said.

The minister highlighted specific areas of joint work that demonstrate a commitment to long-term and productive interaction between the two states.

For instance, the establishment of assembly production for Belarusian harvesters would integrate the technologies of the Belarusian mechanical engineering industry into Iran's economy and create a local enterprise for assembling high-quality agricultural machinery. This would reduce logistics costs and provide the local market with access to the advanced technologies of the Belarusian agricultural industrial complex. The minister noted that work in this direction has already begun.

Belarus could gain access to open waters via Iran’s free trade zones, officials from the two countries said during talks on expanding investment and transit cooperation.

Alena Perminova, head of Belarus’s National Agency of Investment and Privatization, met Reza Masrour, secretary of Iran’s Free and Special Economic Zones High Council, to discuss new avenues for collaboration.

Perminova said a cooperation agreement signed between her agency and Iran’s free zone secretariat was aimed at boosting joint projects.

She stressed Belarus’s interest in building partnerships with Iran’s free zones, saying the two countries could meet many of each other’s needs through investment and re-exporting goods. “We are committed to implementing the framework of this agreement and creating more opportunities for cooperation,” she said.

Perminova noted that Belarus’s free trade zones were established to stimulate provincial development and commercial dynamism, and added that Minsk was ready to pursue serious joint projects with Tehran.

Masrour said Belarus could use Iran’s ports to bypass its landlocked geography and sanctions-related restrictions.

He cited the Caspian route from Makhachkala in Russia to Iran’s Caspian Port as a corridor that could provide Belarus with maritime access. In return, he said Belarus could enhance Iran’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union’s 180-million-strong market.

“Both Iran and Belarus face unjust economic sanctions,” Masrour said, adding that the measures had restricted Belarus’s traditional access to Baltic ports in Lithuania and Latvia. “Iranian ports can serve as an alternative.”

The official also pointed to Iran’s role in the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), saying Belarus could secure vital export routes for its potash fertilizers, agricultural products and other goods to Arab countries, Africa and beyond via Iranian free zones.

The talks also covered cooperation in tourism, high-tech industries, the digital economy, logistics, and organizing joint investment exhibitions.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his visit to Belarus marked a “turning point” in bilateral relations, stressing that Tehran sees no limits to strengthening cooperation with Minsk across political, economic, and cultural fields.

Speaking at a joint press conference with President Alexander Lukashenko on August 20, Pezeshkian praised Belarus as “a reliable partner in the strategic Eurasian region” and reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to fully implementing the 2023–2026 roadmap for cooperation between the two countries.

“Relations with Belarus are now being pursued at the highest level. This trip is a milestone in our ties, and its results will soon be visible in the expanding trend of cooperation,” Pezeshkian said. “Today, more than ever, we need cooperation to overcome unilateralism and its destructive consequences.”

During the visit, Iran and Belarus signed 12 cooperation documents and one joint statement in the presence of the two presidents.

The agreements cover politics, international law, tourism, arts, media, health, pharmaceuticals, industry, environment, free zones, special economic and industrial zones, and investment.

Pezeshkian said the recent meeting of the Joint Economic Committee in Minsk, alongside the new agreements, will help deepen “mutually beneficial cooperation.”

He highlighted areas such as customs coordination, joint investment, trade and transit, resolving private-sector obstacles, and securing vital goods.

He also underlined people-to-people ties: “In the field of media and cultural exchanges, we are ready for more effective cooperation to present an accurate image of both countries and promote mutual understanding of history, culture, and capacities,” he said, noting that several documents had been signed in this area.

Later, in a meeting between senior delegations, Pezeshkian again thanked Lukashenko for his remarks at the recent Eurasian Economic Union Summit, in which he compared the Chernobyl disaster to the risks posed by attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran’s Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Reza Salehi Amiri, also highlighted tourism opportunities, suggesting direct flights and visa waivers to boost travel in both directions.

Pezeshkian closed by stressing that the current trade volume between Iran and Belarus is “negligible compared to capacities” and pledged to personally oversee the implementation of the new agreements: “Relations between our two nations must be built on a deeper and more sustainable foundation.”

EF/MA