Iran: SCO can serve as effective force against unilateralism
Iran underlines the capacities that are lent to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a result of its sheer extent and size of membership.
President Ebrahim Raeisi made the remarks on Tuesday, meeting with the international body's visiting Secretary-General Zhang Ming, who is currently in the Iranian capital Tehran as the head of a delegation.
The SCO member states have "considerable manpower," "rich resources," and "vast geographical expanse" at their disposal, the chief executive said.
"This has created extraordinary capacities for the organization [that it can use] to effectively confront unilateralism and play an effective role in creating regional and international convergence," he added.
The SCO was founded by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in 2001, and currently forms the world's biggest regional market with eight official and four observer members.
The organization accounts for 40 percent of the world's population and 28 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
Iran and the organization started a formal process for Tehran’s accession to the bloc in March 2022. In September of the same year, Iran signed a memorandum of commitment to join the SCO. A month later, the Iranian parliament approved the country's accession to the organization.
The Islamic Republic's membership is expected to be completed during the SCO's next summit, which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi, India in April.
Iran's membership, the president said, would further galvanize regional cooperation and reinforce trade relations with the organization's other members.
He considered the "increasing exchange of expertise and interaction" among the member states to be an element that contributed to the reinforcement of their economic strength and intra-organizational trade cooperation.
For his part, Zhang submitted a report detailing the process of completion of Iran's membership in the SCO.
He appreciated the quality of the Islamic Republic's relations with the rest of the organization's membership, laying emphasis on Tehran's role in regional peace, stability, and development.
"We are certain that, given its rich civilizational and historical background, Iran can serve as an active and productive member in expanding the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's field of action and strength..."
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