Iran has become the 9th member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Iran’s bid to become a full member of the SCO was approved after almost 15 years by the bloc’s seven permanent members on September 17, 2021.
- After the technical and legal process concludes – which could take up to two years – Iran will formally join this group.
- The SCO accounts for about one-third of the world’s land and exports trillions of dollars annually – as it counts China, Russia and India, in addition to several Central Asian states, among its members.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
- The historical meeting of the Heads of State Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held on 8-9 June 2017 in Astana. On the meeting the status of a full member of the Organization was granted to India and Pakistan.
