Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sent a message to his Belarusian counterpart Aleksandr Lukashenko on Sunday, congratulating the president on Belarus' Independence Day.

Raisi expressed hope that joint efforts between the two nations would enhance cooperation between the two states.

Belarus celebrates its independence day on July 3, the day Minsk was liberated from Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

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Belarus used to celebrate its independence day on July 27, 1990, the day it gained independence from the Soviet Union. Lukashenko, however, proposed the holiday be moved to July 3 in 1996. 

The proposal was supported by almost 90% of voters during the 1996 referendum.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said on July 3 at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Mound of Glory memorial outside Minsk that Belarus is reproached as "the only country in the world that supports Russia in its struggle against Nazism, for its efforts to put up a barrier against the abuse of Russian people. We have supported and will continue to support Russia. These reproaches are ridiculous and sad."

According to the President, Russia and Belarus are fraternal states, and Belarus is to Russia "the closest state in the world."