Membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will provide Iran with conditions for strengthening security, ensuring sovereignty, and promoting sustainable economic development, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said at the meeting of the SCO's Council of Heads of State held in an online format on Tuesday under the chairmanship of India.
"We believe that full membership in this important organization will provide Iran with conditions for collective security, opportunities for sustainable economic development, and a greater degree of sovereignty than before," he said on Tuesday.
The Iranian government and people express their gratitude for the admission of the Islamic Republic of Iran into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the president went on to say in his speech.
"We greatly appreciate the warm words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his efforts in organizing this summit. I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Iranian government and people, to express our gratitude for the acceptance of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a full-fledged member of the SCO," he said.
According to the New Delhi Declaration of the SCO Heads of State Council released on Tuesday, Iran has joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), having signed a memorandum of commitment to obtain the status of an SCO member state at the last SCO summit in Samarkand in September 2022.
"The member states stressed the historical significance of Iran’s admission to the SCO as a full member state," the declaration read.
All member states of the SCO, as well as observers Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia, and Turkmenistan as a guest, took part in the summit. The heads of two SCO bodies - the Secretariat and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, also attended the Summit. In addition, the heads of six international and regional organizations - the United Nations, ASEAN, the CIS, the CSTO, the EAEU, and the Collective Security Treaty Organization - were invited.
Commenting on the significance of Tehran's accession to the group, Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian-American political observer and member of the country's delegation for the 2015 nuclear deal, underlined that the SCO and other such groups independent from the Western dictate are a major boost for developing nations.
According to him, the SCO and other regional blocs "help independent countries to cooperate with one another and therefore, decrease the ability of Western countries to cause harm to nations in the Global South."