Iran and SCO sign protocol to start accession process for Tehran
Iran and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) have started a formal process for Tehran’s accession to the major economic bloc.
A Saturday report by Iran’s IRIB News said that a document had been signed a day earlier in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent between representatives of the eight-member SCO and Iran to allow the organization to consider Iran’s accession bid.
Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the signing of the protocol would practically allow the implementation of decision by SCO heads of state in Tajikistan last year to provide membership to Iran.
The next step in the process will be for Iran to sign a memorandum of commitment at an SCO summit in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand in September 2022, said the statement, adding that SCO heads of states will then decide to include Iran in the bloc.
Iran was an observer member of the SCO before applying to join the bloc that includes Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Experts says Iran’s accession to the SCO will be a major boost to the bloc’s influence in the region mainly because Iran’s massive transportation network can facilitate regional and international trade.
Iran is also expected to benefit economically from membership in the bloc. The Iranian customs office (IRICA) said on Saturday that Iranian exports to SCO members had increased by 41% year on year in the 11 months to late February to reach nearly $18.3 billion.
IRICA figures showed that Iran had imported $14.4 billion worth of goods from the SCO countries between March 2021 and February 2022, an increase of 31% against the previous similar period.
Raeisi attends inauguration of Iran-built mega multipurpose project in Sri Lanka
Iran releases details of confiscated Israeli transit cargo
Opportunities of 25-year partnership for Iran and China
VIDEO | TikTok ban
VIDEO | In Nigeria, more than 100 inmates escape after rain damages prison
Moscow may downgrade ties with US if assets are confiscated: Russia
Houthi: US complicit in all Israeli crimes against Palestinians in Gaza
‘Europe could die’, President Macron warns at Sorbonne University
Palestinians released from Israeli jails recount horrible ordeal
'Unprecedented': Thousands of flights cancelled in Europe amid strike
Iran urges US to stop support for Israel as university revolt spreads
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
