President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved a memorandum of commitment for Iran to obtain the status of a member state in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to a document released on Thursday.
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“To approve the memorandum of obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to obtain the status of a member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” the text of the resolution published on the website of the national database of legislation says.
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Mirziyoyev instructed the country’s Foreign Ministry to send a notification to the SCO secretariat on the implementation by Uzbekistan of the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the said memorandum.
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On September 15, 2022, the Iranian side signed a memorandum of commitment in Samarkand in order to obtain the status of a SCO member state, and on November 27, the national parliament adopted a bill on Iran’s entry into the organization. The adoption of the bill on the memorandum of commitment took place on January 25, 2023. In accordance with the procedures of the SCO, the memorandum must also be approved by the member countries of the organization.
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The SCO is an international organization founded in 2001. India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan participate in it. Observer countries – Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia, partner countries – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. At the SCO summit in Dushanbe in September 2021, the procedure for admitting Iran to the organization and granting the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia was launched.
