Iran Denies Rejection of Membership in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Ebrahim Rahimpour, the Deputy for Asia and Oceania at Iran's Foreign Ministry, denied the rejection of Tehran's membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). On Friday, July 4, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Mr. Rahimpour stated, "No decision has been made in this regard yet, and the membership application documents have not been presented to Tehran." IRNA added that the news of Iran's membership rejection was published on Thursday night by a British media outlet before the SCO summit in Tashkent had even begun, and then it was reflected on several Iranian websites. This Iranian news agency likely refers to a Reuters report from Thursday, July 3, which stated that the SCO, chaired by China, rejected Iran's request to begin the membership review process "despite Russia's support." Iran has been an observer member of the SCO for years and is striving for full membership. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also supported Iran's membership request in the SCO. Reuters reported that the rejection of Iran's membership request came from a special representative of Russia, a major supporter of Iran in the organization, who said, "This time we could not reach an agreement with our colleagues on this matter, but work in this area will continue." According to Reuters, Mr. Putin believes that after the nuclear agreement, "there are no obstacles" for Iran to join the organization. Meanwhile, according to Iran's Deputy for Asia and Oceania, "According to the regulations of the SCO, sanctions are one of the obstacles to membership, and we have not pursued it until now. But now that we are out of sanctions, this organization must decide to begin the membership process for Iran." The SCO was established in 2001 and coordinates multilateral security, economic, and cultural cooperation among its member states. The members of this organization include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan. Alongside Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Belarus are also considered observer members of the SCO.