Iran formally joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Iran’s membership was announced by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he headlined the SCO leaders’ summit held virtually on Tuesday.
Modi congratulated Iran on becoming a full member of the alliance, saying, “New countries joining the group underlines the importance of the group”.
Iran first applied for membership in the bloc 15 years ago, but it took until 2021 for the request to be approved.
Iran and the organization started a formal process for Tehran’s accession in March 2022. In September of the same year, Iran signed a memorandum of commitment to join the SCO.
Addressing the Tuesday summit, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said Tehran’s membership will support “collective security... expand ties and communications and strengthen unity”.
“In particular, I hope that Iran’s presence in this important and influential organization will provide a platform for collective security, lead to sustainable development, expand links and communications, strengthen unity, respect the sovereignty of countries more than ever before, and provide synergies to deal with environmental threats,” Raeisi said.
De-dollarization a necessity
He also warned against the dominance of the dollar in global exchanges, saying de-dollarization is a pivotal necessity to form a just international system.
Based on the past decades’ experience, he said, militarism and the dominance of the dollar form the bases of the Western hegemonic system. “Therefore, any attempt to shape a fair international system requires the removal of this instrument of dominance in intra-regional relations,” the Iranian president said.
Protecting regional peace
Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the SCO leaders to work to “protect regional peace and ensure security.”
He said the SCO member states should “follow the right direction and enhance their solidarity and mutual trust”.
China would “persist in the correct direction of economic globalization, oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and extension of the national security concept,” Xi said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also attended the meeting, reiterated his country’s opposition to Western sanctions and said Moscow would counter “all these external sanctions and pressures” and continue to “develop as never before”.
Putin also backed trade accords between SCO nations in local currencies in an attempt to blunt sanctions.
The China-headquartered SCO is a diplomatic organization now with nine members, namely Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, China and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Set up in 2001, the organization’s members work to tackle joint security issues, cooperate militarily and promote internal trade.