As part of the development of international cooperation and the promotion of the track of expert diplomacy, on 4 September, the director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research, Oleg Makarov, met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Belarus, Saeed Yari.
The meeting took place at the Iranian embassy after the invitation from the head of the diplomatic mission. It should be noted that this is not the first contact between the leadership and analysts of the BISR with the diplomats of the Iranian embassy. In December 2019 our office was visited by the Chargé d'affaires ai of Iran to Belarus Morteza Bahrami. And in this February, representatives of the BISR took part in a gala reception on the occasion of the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran, which is celebrated in this country as a National Day.
During the engaging and constructive conversation, an exchange of views took place on the most pressing issues of the current socio-political situation in the Republic of Belarus, mutual predictive assessments of its further development were expressed. Separately, the parties touched on topical aspects of the situation in and around Iran through the prism of regional and international security.
The Iranian diplomat expressed words of sincere support for the Belarusian leadership and people against the background of the post-election turbulence, and also expressed hope that in the near future the situation will stabilise and the Republic of Belarus will return to its usual creative life.
The Iranian ambassador confirmed his readiness to assist the BISR in establishing working contacts with the leading think tanks of his country, in particular with the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As the first step towards establishing a systematic expert dialogue, we agreed to work out and hold a thematic round table in the videoconference mode.