Iran proposes areas to enhance energy cooperation between SCO members

Iran’s energy minister says Tehran has proposed seven areas for strengthening energy cooperation among member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Addressing the 4th SCO energy ministers' meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said that member states can ensure energy security by forging cooperation. 

A strategy for energy cooperation among SCO member states until 2030 was approved by the ministers in the meeting. 

Iran, like other member states, presented its proposals to strengthen the document, and “fortunately, they were approved by the other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Mehrabian said. 

Elaborating on the proposals, Mehrabian said that Tehran stressed the importance of creating a regional electricity market between the member states, promoting energy security, and enhancing the capacity of electric desalination devices.

The technical development and commercialization of energy storage systems and electric vehicles, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, the exchange of technical knowledge and scientific cooperation, and the exchange of technical and engineering services in the field of energy were also among the seven areas which Tehran says could lead to enhanced cooperation between SCO member states and sustainable growth and development in the field of energy, according to the minister. 

Mehrabian said the approved document will be “a turning point in the development of cooperation between the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the field of energy.”

He added that the implementation of the document “needs a road map and an executive plan.”

Iran gains full Shanghai Cooperation Organization membership

Iran officially becomes a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Mehrabian stressed that the organization is one of the most important alliances in the region, with international influence.

“This organization has special role in the economic and security development in the region and the world,” he said, adding it plays a leading role in “promoting multilateralism in the world.”

Last year, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) officially approved Iran's full-fledged membership in the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population.

Iran first applied for membership in the alliance over a decade ago, but it took until 2021 for the request to be approved.

The SCO, which has its headquarters in China, is a diplomatic organization with eight members, namely Russia, India, Pakistan, and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

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