Iran has become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to a statement by Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian. Iran has officially become the 9th CSO member.
On Thursday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Tajikistan, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) summit will be held. Raisi’s visit also marks his first official visit abroad since he took office last month.
Speaking at Tehran’s airport before leaving for Dushanbe, Raisi said, “We attach great importance to regional cooperation, and the SCO is among the active organizations for regional cooperation.”
Underlining that Iran prioritizes to have advanced relations with regional countries, Raisi expressed his hope that “new steps would be taken for closer interaction among Asian countries following his negotiations with the high-ranking officials of the other countries in the summit.”
According to his remarks, some agreements in various sectors, including the economy, agriculture would be inked with Tajikistan. Raisi did not elaborate details of these prospective agreements.
According to the report issued by Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, Raisi went to Dushanbe with a high-level delegation, including ministers of foreign affairs, energy, justice, labor and social welfare, cultural heritage, and tourism.
The SCO summit is expected to focus on the latest developments in Afghanistan, which is the neighboring country of the SCO’s Central Asian members. In the SCO, Afghanistan has an observer state status, as Iran does.
One of the topics which was to be discussed at the SCO summit was Iran’s request to be a full member of the organization. Responding a question on the issue, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh stated that Iran’s bid to join the SCO would be taken into consideration at the summit, expressing his hope for positive outcomes.
The 21st summit of the SCO has been inaugurated on Friday with the presence of presidents of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran. The presidents of Russia, China, India, and Mongolia participated in the event through video conference.
