Uzbekistan’s foreign minister made the announcement yesterday. Iran will sign the memorandum of obligation at the SCO summit in the Central Asian country. Iran’s deputy foreign minister proposes a single currency for SCO members to facilitate economic integration. This is the first time Iran joins an international organisation since the Islamic Revolution.
Tehran (AsiaNews) – Iran will become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with the signing of the memorandum of obligation at a summit in Samarkand, on 15-16 September.
“This year, within Uzbekistan's chairmanship, Iran, as an observer state will ... become a full-fledged member of the SCO,” RIA Novosti quoted Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov as saying yesterday during a meeting in Moscow.
Iran took one step closer to full membership on 17 September last year when its application was accepted 15 years after it was made. On that date, SCO began the country's accession, which usually takes “a fair amount of time”, up to two years.
Last month, Iran's deputy foreign minister responsible for economic diplomacy, Mehdi Safari, proposed the bloc adopt a single currency to facilitate economic integration among members.