Russia says Iran’s full membership at SCO on agenda at next summit

Khakimov made the remarks on Saturday on the sidelines of the 26th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

“Iran’s accession as a full member will be one of the key decisions of the July 4 summit that will take place in New Delhi via video conference. Iran has completed the mandatory procedures and will join the family of SCO member states at the New Delhi summit,” he stated.

SCO is a transcontinental political, economic, and security alliance, which has a total of eight members. Iran is the observer SCO country that is set to become a full-time member of the charter.

Khakimov also added that at the upcoming SCO summit, a memorandum will also be signed on Belarus’ obligations aimed at obtaining the status of a member state in the organization.

Earlier, the Indian Foreign Ministry announced that a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State would take place online on July 4. In addition to the SCO’s eight member states, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have been invited to the event as observer states.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had said that the country’s full membership in the SCO would be finalized in July during the upcoming summit of the association.

The SCO was founded by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan at a summit held in Shanghai in 2001.

China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are its current full members. Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia are observer states.

Iran first applied for membership in the alliance 15 years ago. The approval of Iran’s candidacy came at a summit in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe in September 2021.

The organization accounts for 40 percent of the world’s population and 28 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).