Iran Granted Full Membership of Shanghai Alliance SCO

Iran will be accepted as a full member of the Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who spoke at the organization's 21st summit in Dushanbe on Friday.

Leaders from eight member states and four observer states attended the annual summit in Tajikistan's capital on Friday, with the Chinese leader addressing it virtually along with Russian, Indian and Mongolian presidents, Press TV reported.

Xi criticized sanctions imposed on world economic exchanges, urging SCO members to stay united against attacks by other countries.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and his counterparts from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended in person.

"I hope that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which has succeeded in gaining a prominent regional and international position in a short period of time will continue its growing path," President Raisi told the opening.

Raisi called cultural development as the first agenda of cooperation among civilized countries.

Cultural development, he said, "is a major part of the world's cultural and spiritual treasury in Asia, and Asia has been the cradle of human civilization and its beating heart in China, India, Tajikistan and Iran".

In remarks at Tehran airport before leaving for Dushanbe, President Raisi had said that regional cooperation is a top priority for his new government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, joining the talks via video conference after self-isolating over COVID-19 fears, said Iran's accession will certainly help further increase the organization's international clout.

"We always support Iran's full participation in the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization because Iran has played an important role in the Eurasian region and has a long-term positive cooperation with this organization," he said.