Belarus Says it Has 1.5 Mln Potential Soldiers Outside Armed Forces

Previous military training between Russia and Belarus (archive - AFP)
Previous military training between Russia and Belarus (archive - AFP)
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Belarus Says it Has 1.5 Mln Potential Soldiers Outside Armed Forces

Previous military training between Russia and Belarus (archive - AFP)
Previous military training between Russia and Belarus (archive - AFP)

Belarus, a small Russian ally bordering Ukraine, has as many as 1.5 million potential military personnel outside its armed forces, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

President Alexander Lukashenko has supported his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in his year-long war with Ukraine, including by letting him invade from Belarusian territory and by allowing Russia to train newly mobilized troops in Belarus.

Lukashenko this month ordered the formation of a new volunteer territorial defense force of up to 150,000 people. He has said his army would fight only if Belarus was attacked, Reuters said.

"The structures of the organizations, not the Armed Forces, will amount to somewhere up to 1.5 million people in the event of a declaration of martial law and the switch of the economy to a war mode," said State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich, according to the state BelTA news agency.

Belarus has a population of around 9.3 million. The country's professional army has about 48,000 troops and some 12,000 state border troops, according to the 2022 International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance.



Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Pursue its Right to Nuclear Energy and Research

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Pursue its Right to Nuclear Energy and Research

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a meeting in Ilam, Iran, June 12, 2025. Iran's Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday, reiterating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious edict against weapons of mass destruction.

Pezeshkian also urged all citizens to put aside differences and unite against Israel as the conflict rages between the two arch-foes.

"Every difference, issue, and problem that has existed must be put aside today and we must stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence," Pezeshkian said, addressing parliament.

Israel argues that its assault on Iran's top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not pursued a nuclear weapon since 2003.

But Iran has enriched ever-larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.