Iran's Accession To Shanghai Bloc To Begin In Fall 2022 - Russian Envoy

Iran will start down the path of becoming a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the next summit in September 2022, a Russian envoy to the eight-nation bloc said Tuesday

TASHKENT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2021) Iran will start down the path of becoming a full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the next summit in September 2022, a Russian envoy to the eight-nation bloc said Tuesday.

The Eurasian political organization currently comprises China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with Iran as an observer state.

"We expect a memorandum to be signed in Samarkand in September 2022. This means Iran will begin the concrete process of accession," Bakhtiyer Khakimov told reporters on the sidelines of a SCO national coordinators' meeting in Tashkent.

Uzbekistan, which holds the rotating SCO presidency, has shared a draft memorandum listing conditions for Iran's accession with other members. Khakimov said that every aspiring member state has a tailored list of criteria to meet.