'Two Birds Of A Feather': State Department On Belarus' Leader's Iran Visit

The State Department on Monday reacted to the visit by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to Iran, calling it "an extension of the deepening relationship between Iran and Russia,” TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

“It's something we're watching very closely. These are two birds of a feather and oftentimes they do flock together,” Spokesperson Ned Price told a daily press briefing in response to TURAN's questions.

While in Tehran, Lukashenko met with President Ebrahim Raisi and other Iranian leaders, and signed "a roadmap for comprehensive cooperation" between the countries for the next three years.

"We realized how much we need each other, how closely we should cooperate," Lukashenko was quoted as telling Raisi. The pair also reportedly discussed Iran's experience in "resisting sanctions."

Price reminded that Washington has long been sharing its concern of the deepening relationship between Iran and Russia. "We’ve talked about it in terms of the security assistance that those – that Iran is providing Russia, and vice versa, and we’ve also made the point that, in what Lukashenka has offered to Russia, he has essentially ceded his sovereignty to the Kremlin, to Russia. And so now, with Lukashenka in Iran, in some ways you can see that as an extension of the deepening partnership between Iran and Russia," he concluded.

Alex Raufoglu