Tehran, Minsk Sign Defense Agreement

The defense ministers of Iran and Belarus have signed an agreement to develop their defense industries.

The agreement was signed during a meeting between Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh and his Belarusian counterpart, Major General Viktor Khrenin, in Minsk on March 12, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Nasirzadeh called the agreement “an important step in strengthening defense and security cooperation” and emphasized that Iran and Belarus should use their membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to address “shared threats and unilateralism.”

Upon arriving in Belarus on March 11, Nasirzadeh said “one of the key areas for developing bilateral relations is defense cooperation, especially in the defense industries sector.”

He added that both Tehran and Minsk share similar political views, particularly in opposing Western “unilateralism,” and noted that their membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization offers opportunities to expand cooperation in various fields.

Iran and Belarus have strongly supported Russia in its war against Ukraine and have grown closer since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Ukrainian news agencies reported that Belarus is planning to build a plant in its southeastern Gomel region, near Ukraine, to produce Iran’s Shahed drones.

In March 2023, Belarus and Iran signed a roadmap for comprehensive cooperation over the next three years. Later, in June 2023, they also signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation.

In November 2022, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, reported that Belarus was planning to produce shells for barrel artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. Then, in early May, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reported that Iran would transfer production to Belarus to avoid Western sanctions and to support Russia’s operations against Ukraine.

The AFU Special Operations Forces’ Center for National Resistance confirmed that Iranian engineers visited Belarus’ Gomel plant during a business trip, where the plant had already been retrofitting drones. The National Resistance Center noted that these developments indicate Russia’s growing influence over Belarus’s defense sector. The establishment of full-scale production of Iranian drones in Belarus would help Russia address logistical issues related to transporting drones from Iran.