Minsk accredits Iran’s military attaché to Russia

May 17, Pozirk. Iran’s military attaché to Russia, Reza Khosravi Moghaddam, has been accredited by the Belarusian Ministry of Defense (MoD), becoming the first Iranian military diplomat to receive this credential since the establishment of relations between Minsk and Tehran in 1993, the MoD reported yesterday.

This adds another layer to the Belarusian-Iranian-Russian military nexus, which Ukraine sees as a security threat amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.

A month ago, Iran’s military attaché to Russia said defense cooperation with Moscow was multifaceted and included counterterrorism, joint exercises in maritime regions, scientific and cultural exchanges.

During his visit to Tehran on July 31, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin signed a memorandum on military cooperation with his Iranian counterpart.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the top defense officials could have discussed the production of Iranian kamikaze drones in Belarus.

In May, the National Resistance Center of Ukraine reported that a group of Iranian engineers visited Homielski Radyjozavod, a factory in southeastern Belarus, to discuss drone production.

In November, a Belarusian-Iranian interdepartmental commission on military cooperation held its inaugural meeting.

In February, Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Seyed Ghalandari visited the Belarusian capital, followed in April by Mehdi Jafar, a deputy defense minister and rector of the Malek Ashtar University of Technology.

On April 27, Chrenin met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Ashtiani.

In a separate development, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned that the country could develop nuclear weapons if Israel threatens its existence.

“We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran’s existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine,” Kamal Kharrazi said last week.

Also read: Belarusian officers participating in counter-terrorism drill in Iran