Tehran: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has met with his Belarusian counterpart to review the expanding relations between the two countries, emphasizing the acceleration of the implementation of cooperation documents, developing political, economic, and commercial ties, and strengthening multilateralism.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, the meeting between Araghchi and Maxim Ryzhenkov took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in the Kyrgyz resort town of Cholpon-Ata. The two ministers reviewed the growing bilateral relations and the latest status of implementing agreements and cooperation documents between the two nations, specifically the cooperation program between the Iranian Foreign Ministry and that of Belarus for the years 2026 to 2030.

The Foreign Ministers of Iran and Belarus also exchanged views on recent regional and international developments, stressing the necessity of strengthening multilateralism, countering unilateral coercive measures, and leveraging the capacity of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to expand political, economic, and commercial cooperation between the two nations.

Leading a diplomatic delegation to participate in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the SCO member states, Araghchi arrived in Cholpon-Ata late on Thursday. In his speech to the assembly of SCO Foreign Ministers, he highlighted the need to transition from primarily political and security cooperation toward a comprehensive economic, technological, and development-oriented partnership, adding that silence and ambiguous stances in the face of the US-Israeli terror attacks against Iran encourage aggressors to repeat their crimes.