Khamenei Urges Belarusian President to Confront US Sanctions

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (AP)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (AP)
TT

Khamenei Urges Belarusian President to Confront US Sanctions

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (AP)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (AP)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to confront US sanctions, noting that countries subject to Western sanctions must counter the scheme through cooperation and by setting up a joint assembly.

The two countries signed a roadmap to boost political, economic, and cultural cooperation.

Lukashenko arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a two-day visit and was officially received by President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday. The visit comes as the two countries mark 30 years of official diplomatic relations.

Khamenei called for employing the two countries' will to implement cooperation agreements and promote their level of relations.

Raisi hailed three decades of close ties with Belarus after talks with his counterpart.

"Thirty years after the start of relations... the two countries have the will to strengthen cooperation," Raisi said, praising their "common strategic vision."

For his part, Lukashenko praised "with great respect the perseverance with which the (Iranian) people resist external pressures, attempts to impose the will of others on them."

"And I see that, despite everything, you are developing modern technologies and nuclear energy," he added about Iran's contested nuclear program, which has sparked tough international sanctions against the country.

"We could be very helpful to each other if we put our efforts together," added Lukashenko.

The two presidents did not mention the Ukraine war in their statements.

Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Tehran maintains close ties with Russia while at the same time asserting it maintains a neutral diplomatic stance in the Ukraine war.

However, Washington recently warned of the "dangerous" increase in military cooperation between Russia and Iran, accusing Tehran of providing Moscow with drones to use in Ukraine, which Tehran denies.

Iran recently announced that it finalized a contract with Russia to purchase Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets.

Lukashenko recently paid a three-day visit to China, during which he said he fully supports Beijing's proposals to stop the war.

Belarus, neighboring Ukraine, did not send soldiers to fight alongside the Russian army, but its territory served as a rear base for Moscow's troops.



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
TT

Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.