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)
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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.



Families of Israeli Detainees Accuse Netanyahu of Misleading Trump to Evade Hostage Deal

US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
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Families of Israeli Detainees Accuse Netanyahu of Misleading Trump to Evade Hostage Deal

US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)
US President Donald Trump (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017. (AP)

Families of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip accused on Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of presenting to US President-elect Donald Trump misleading information about the fate of the prisoners to evade a hostage deal under US pressure.

This came after reports issued last week said Trump did not know that half of the Israeli detainees held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were alive.

Israel's Channel 13 said Monday that while the US and Israel are focused on negotiations to end the war in Lebanon, the file of Israeli prisoners in Gaza remains stalled amid declining efforts to conclude a deal.

“This situation angers the families and drives them crazy; they see that the government, which has turned its back on the prisoners' file for 416 days, is working with all its might to prevent a deal with Hamas despite knowing fully well that this means threatening the lives of the prisoners,” the channel said.

Sources close to Trump confirmed to the channel his interest in the prisoners' case.

However, they added, Tel Aviv is telling the upcoming administration that most of the prisoners were killed in order to evade concluding a hostage deal with Hamas, under US pressure, after the inauguration of the new administration on January 20.

The channel said that at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, some compared Trump to President Ronald Reagan, who ended the Iran hostage crisis after taking power in 1981.

It added that during his election campaign, Trump repeatedly said that Hamas' attacks on Israel would “never have happened” if he were president. He had also promised to release the hostages in Gaza.

An official close to President Isaac Herzog had earlier revealed that Trump did not know about the fate of the Israeli captives.

The official said that when Herzog called to congratulate Trump on his election, he heard the President-elect say that the abductees had been killed while in Hamas captivity.

To Trump’s surprise, Herzog replied that more than half were still alive.

Therefore, the Israelis concluded that Netanyahu misled Trump by telling him that most of the captives were dead.

“I can confirm, based on sources I speak with, that Israeli government officials are informing Trump and his team that the majority of the hostages were killed,” said the father of a captured soldier, Rubi Chen.

He said the government is using this approach to reduce any potential pressure from the Trump administration on Israel to reach a hostage deal.

Gil Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and killed in captivity, wrote on X, “Who is spreading these lies? Who convinces Trump that the hostages are dead? Instead of returning everyone quickly, dead or alive, you waited until the hostages were killed in captivity, and now you lie and say that most of them are dead to justify abandoning them again.”

At a press conference marking one year since the hostage deal that brought 81 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals home, released hostage Raz Ben Ami, said, “if they could only manage to understand what it is to be in subhuman conditions in the tunnels, surrounded by terrorists for 54 days – there is no way they would let the hostages stay there for 415 days.

Earlier, Israeli Democratic Party leader Yair Golan warned that Netanyahu's government is trying to reach a settlement in the north to foil a deal with Hamas in Gaza.