Iran joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit ended on Friday on a positive note. Iran officially joined the SCO, and all the participants signed the Samarkand Declaration in the end.

Iran's full membership in the SCO was announced by the President of Uzbekistan, which was applauded by the participants. China, Russia, India, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan attended the 22nd SCO summit.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi spoke at the second day of the summit on Friday, stressing that maximum interaction and relation with the countries of the region, including the SCO states. He also said effective presence in regional and international orders are the focus of Iran’s foreign policy.

Uzbekistan, which chaired the SCO for one year, will hand over the SCO presidency to India. India will assume the next SCO rotating presidency and hold the next meeting of the council of heads of state of the SCO in 2023.

During the summit, an agreement was reached on admitting Bahrain, the Maldives, the UAE, Kuwait and Myanmar as new dialogue partners. Relevant parties noticed that MOUs granting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar the status of SCO dialogue partners had been signed.

The Samarkand Declaration which was signed by all countries participating in the summit underlined that the world is undergoing global changes and has entered a new period of rapid development and major transformation, with the trend towards a multi-polar world intensifying, countries increasingly interdependent, and informatization and digitalization accelerating. 

“Based on the principles of the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the member states oppose grouping, and ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional issues, and stick to a coordinated manner to security threats and challenges in traditional and non-traditional fields,” the declaration added.

Considering the views of the SCO member states, the declaration reaffirmed that it is of great practical significance to work together to build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness and justice as well as win-win cooperation, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

In the declaration, the SCO states also emphasized the continuous implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

The SCO members also called on the JCPOA parties to commit to their obligations in line with the comprehensive, full and effective implementation of the JCPOA.

“The member-states stand for respecting the right of the people of all countries to independently choose their own paths of political, economic and social development,” according to the declaration.

The SCO emphasizes continuous implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

They also reaffirmed that differences and disputes between countries should be resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultation.

Elsewhere in the declaration, the member-states reiterated their steadfast commitment to combating terrorism, separatism and extremism.

They pointed out that the interference in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of combating terrorism and extremism is unacceptable, as well as the use of terrorist, extremist and radical groups for one's own purposes.

The member states underlined the key role of the United Nations in responding to threats in the information space, calling for creating a safe, fair and open information space on the basis of respect for sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

The member states that are signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons are committed to strict compliance with the provisions of the treaty and consolidating the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, according to the declaration. 

The member-states also underlined that the only solution to regional conflicts is through political and diplomatic means “on the basis of adherence to universally recognized principles and norms of international law.”

They noted that the coordination of the situation in Afghanistan at an early date is one of the important factors for maintaining and consolidating security and stability in the SCO region. The SCO reaffirmed support for Afghanistan to become “an independent, neutral, united, democratic and peaceful country, which is free of terrorism, war and drugs.”