Iran Seeks Partner in belarus to Restore Air Defense After the War with Israel

On August 20, self-proclaimed president of belarus lukashenko met with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Minsk. Formally, the talks focused on trade, investment, industrial projects, and cooperation in science and education, as well as coordination in multilateral organizations, from the EAEU and SCO to BRICS and the UN.

However, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, the real agenda differed from the official statements. For Tehran, the key issue was the possibility of restoring air defense systems and electronic warfare capabilities, which were seriously damaged during the recent war with Israel. belarus, unlike russia, is less restricted by sanctions in the military-technical sphere and could become a channel for restoring Iran’s defense capabilities.

Besides, Tehran is interested in addressing the acute shortage of power generation and agricultural equipment. For Minsk, this means the prospect of participating in projects that go far beyond the officially announced topics. Iran plans to use belarus as another channel for access to sanctioned goods.