The Iranian city of Yazd and the Ukrainian city of Lviv are slated to sign a sisterhood agreement, IRNA reported on Sunday. The two historical cities will sign the agreement in a bid to enhance their cultural relations, Ukraine’s ambassador to Iran Sergey Burdilyak said on Saturday.

Iran’s tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan has said Iran backs China’s initiative for reviving the glory of ancient Silk Road, which existed for thousands of years, passing through many different empires, kingdoms, reigns and societies throughout history.

Matthew Ehret - It has become far too popular among North Americans to look cynically upon the developments occurring in Eurasia and Africa today under the guidance of China’s One Belt One Road Initiative as simply another form of imperialism which is preparing to replace the Anglo-American imperial order that has controlled the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union. China’s lifting of 850 million people out of poverty and emitting conditionality-free long term loans for large scale infrastructure projects abroad are brushed off by lazy minded western critiques as “economic and cultural imperialism”.

Heads of BRICS member states are "unanimous in the resolve that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used as pretext to delay resolution of the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict". Leaders of BRICS member states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have called for a resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict that would allow for the coexistence of both states, the declaration signed on Thursday on the outcomes of the summit in Brasilia informs. "We are unanimous in our resolve that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used as pretext to delay resolution of the long-standing Palestinian-Israeli conflict," the leaders stressed.