Iran's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization official

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Sep 14:20

After announcing Iran's membership last year in September, the work is being finalized at the time of this the 2022 SCO conference in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev meets Iran's counterpart Ebrahim Raisi ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 14, 2022. (Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan)

The Uzbekistan-held 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit which was held today, Friday, announced Iran's full accession to the organization's membership.

Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev officially recognized Tehran as a permanent member of the SCO, which was praised and applauded by the organization's member states and attendees.

The summit is being attended by heads of state, in addition to the secretary-general of the summit Jang Ming, and the Director of the RATS Executive Committee, Ruslan Mirzayev.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attended the summit at the invitation of Mirziyoyev, and has been in Uzbekistan since Wednesday.

Iran signed memorandums of arrangements and commitments on Thursday. In a tweet, Iranian Foreign Minister said: "Tonight, in the historical city of Samarkand, I signed the memorandum of commitments of Iran's permanent membership at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with the (SCO) secretary-general."

The tweet further read that "Now, we have entered a new stage of diverse economic, commercial, transit, energy, etc. cooperation (with the SCO members)."

Iran will officially become a full member of the organization by signing its first memorandum of obligations.

In September 2021, SCO members agreed to fully grant Iran membership to the organization, with Raisi lauding the move, explaining that his country can be a link to Eurasia, through a pathway tying the north to the south.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an economic, political, and security alliance comprising China, Iran, India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. SCO Observer countries include Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia, with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka holding a dialogue partner status.