Iran is to sign a binding document next week that will put the country on a direct path to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a powerful bloc of countries that include Russia and China, according to a Russian official.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the official Tass news agency on Saturday that Iranian delegation attending the SCO summit in the Uzbek city of Samarkand on September 15-16 will sign the organization’s Memorandum of Obligations.
The signing of the document will tie Iran to the SCO’s international treaties and will kick-start a process that will end in Iran’s full SCO membership in April 2023.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi is expected to travel to Samarkand next week where he will be joined by heads of state from 14 other countries and heads of 10 international organizations.
The SCO is comprised of Russia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, along with Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia, has been an observer state of the bloc.