TEHRAN (Iran News) –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 became a SCO member during the 23rd virtual summit of the bloc which started on Tuesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its chairperson.
Iran first applied for membership in the alliance 15 years 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.
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.
Addressing the 23rd virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), President Ebrahim Raisi warned against the dominance of the dollar in global exchanges, saying de-dollarization is a pivotal necessity to form a just international system.
He said cooperation among the SCO member states in the economic fields can “open a clear vision of a just regional order” to the eyes of world nations.
Based on the past decades’ experience, he said, militarism and the dominance of the dollar form the bases of the Western domination 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 pointed out.
He noted that civilization is the greatest capacity of the SCO member countries to build unity and peace.
He stressed the importance of promoting a civilization in this “ancient” continent based on ethics, spirituality, justice, rationality, and respect for human dignity.
“The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is a symbol of this “great family of civilizations”, is now standing in a position that can establish new horizons of regional convergence and security-building cooperation,” Raisi stated.
Pointing to the desecration of the Holy Qur’an in some European countries, he emphasized the need to respect the “values and sanctities of the nations” as a “unifying principle”.
The Iranian president said the desecration of the Holy Qur’an caused hatred and spread insecurity, which should be dealt with by displaying unity among civilized nations.
In a repeated and state-authorized instance of desecration of the Muslim holy book, two men stood outside the central mosque in Stockholm on Wednesday and burned a copy of the holy book following a go-ahead given by a Swedish court.
The move was made to coincide with the Muslim festivity of Eid al-Adha, which marks the conclusion of the annual Hajj pilgrimage that is partaken by millions of Muslims from across the world.
Addressing the summit, the Indian prime minister said the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should join hands to fight terrorism and not hesitate to condemn countries that support terror.
Modi also called on leaders of the Eurasian political and security grouping to work for the welfare of Afghanistan and provide humanitarian aid to Kabul.
He also congratulated Iran on becoming a full member of the alliance and conveyed his “best wishes to President Ebrahim Raisi and the people of Iran.”
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”.
He stressed the importance of focusing on pragmatic cooperation and accelerating economic recovery, and pledged to work with SCO member states to “oppose protectionism.”
China would “persist in the correct direction of economic globalization, oppose protectionism, unilateral sanctions and extension of national security concept,” Xi said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also 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.
