Uzbekistan: Iran signs 'memorandum of commitment' to join security group led by Russia and China

Iran signed the “memorandum of commitment” to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a central Asian security body, according to Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister. “Now we have entered a new stage of various economic, commercial, transit, energy,” Amir-Abdollahian wrote in the memo.

According to Reuters, the SCO was formed in 2001 and serves as a “talking shop” for Russia, China, and ex-Soviet states in Central Asia. The organization expanded in 2018 to include India and Pakistan and provide a greater counterweight to Western influence in the region, Reuters reported.

The SCO is holding a two-day summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with attendees including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Footage posted to Telegram by Zvezda News, a Russian defense ministry-run channel, shows Putin and Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, meeting. According to Zvezda News, Putin said Russia is “doing everything for Iran to become a full member of the SCO.”

Credit: Zvezda News via Storyful