Iran becomes full member of Shanghai security bloc

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

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.

"The security and infrastructural advantages of the Islamic Republic of Iran to increase energy transmission lines can be provided to Shanghai members for the implementation of joint economic projects with high-efficiency guarantees," Raisi said.

In their speeches at the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister welcomed Iran as an official SCO member.

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.

"Now we have entered a new stage of various economic, commercial, transit, energy, cooperations," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at the time.

The SCO was formed in 2001 as counterweight to Western influence in central Asia. It includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as full members and three observer states (Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia).

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.

Amir-Abdollahian tweeted that "active diplomacy" of the incumbent Iranian government "recorded a new achievement" for the country in the form of the SCO membership.

"The full membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an important step in pursuing an inclusive foreign policy, strengthening the neighborhood policy and looking towards Asia," he wrote.

Mohammad Jamshidi, the deputy chief of the president's office, said in a statement that "active membership in regional and international organizations is an important part" of Raisi's foreign policy "based on the doctrine of neighborhood and convergence."

He added that the "next step is BRICS" bloc of emerging economies.

On Monday, Raisi received an official invitation to attend the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa.