Iran becomes full member of Shanghai security bloc
TEHRAN, Iran (AA): Iran on Tuesday officially became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Addressing the 23rd summit of the multilateral organization virtually, President Ebrahim Raisi said Iran’s full membership in the SCO will be “recorded in history.”
“Iran believes that [the SCO] is a growing organization with significant indicators and capacities and a privileged position, and the benefits of this official [accession] of Iran will be recorded in history,” he said.
Raisi said Iran’s presence in SCO will “provide a platform for providing collective security, guiding towards sustainable development, expanding ties and communications, strengthening unity, respecting the sovereignty of countries, and providing synergy to deal with environmental threats.”
He said skilled manpower in the area of advanced technologies and modern sciences is one of Iran’s capabilities that can “strengthen multilateral economic cooperation” between the SCO members.
Raisi asserted that the Asian continent must once again become a proud civilization.
“Historical and cultural links” between SCO member countries “have brought about common ideals and goals” leading to a “common definition of security and development,” he added.
“The most important thing in strengthening unity is protecting local progressive norms, making rules based on those norms and preventing Western norms from prevailing,” Raisi said.
He reaffirmed Iran’s support for mega development projects of the North-South Corridor and the Belt and Road Project, adding that Tehran is determined to connect landlocked countries.
In September 2022, Iran signed a memorandum of commitment to become a full member in the security bloc on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.
The SCO was formed in 2001 as counterweight to Western influence in central Asia. It comprises China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (full members) and Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia (observer states).
Iran acquired observer status in the organization in June 2005. Its permanent membership in the grouping was approved during the SCO summit in September 2021.
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