PA: Israel's foreign minister has strongly cautioned Belarus against developing relations with Iran.
The Press Association
Israel's foreign minister has strongly cautioned Belarus against developing relations with Iran.
Avigdor Lieberman said that Iran poses a major threat to stability in the entire Middle East.
He told reporters that Israel expects Belarusian officials to take its concerns into account and promised to intensify ties with the ex-Soviet nation.
Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has developed close ties with Iran, calling the Islamic republic a "key partner".
He and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have exchanged visits and words of solidarity.
Some media and Belarusian opposition activists have alleged that Belarus could serve as a corridor for covert supplies of Russian weapons to Iran. Officials in Russia and Belarus have dismissed the allegations.
Lieberman, who arrived in Belarus after visiting Russia, harshly criticised the Iranian president for sponsoring an annual conference denying the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly questioned the extent of the Holocaust and called for Israel to be "wiped from the map", said on Wednesday that the Holocaust was a "deception".
"We can't tolerate a country which is a member of the United Nations holding a conference on Holocaust denial on annual basis," Lieberman said. "Any attempts to rewrite the World War II history, including the Holocaust denial, are unacceptable."
Russia has been Belarus' main sponsor, but Lukashenko recently has sought to improve Belarus' ties with the West amid a cold spell in relations with Moscow which worsened over economic and financial disputes.
