The permanent membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was officially announced today, Tuesday, in the virtual meeting of the heads of this organization under the chairmanship of India.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): Iran's membership in this organization was officially announced today (Tuesday, July 4), at the 23rd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was held virtually and was chaired by India.
 
In the opening speech of the meeting, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned Iran as a new member of the Shanghai Organization and congratulated Iran.
 
The Prime Minister of India further added: I wish the best for the people of Iran and Sayed Ebrahim Raisi, the President of Iran, because Iran is officially accepted as an official member of the Shanghai Organization.
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran's permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during his speech today and added: Iran's official joining to this organization can add new capacity to it.
 
Imam Ali Rahman, the president of Tajikistan, in his speech at this meeting, congratulated Iran on permanent membership in this organization.
 
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 1996 by the leaders of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with the aim of establishing a balance of power against the influence of the United States and NATO under the name of Shanghai Five, and after Uzbekistan joined it, it was called the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was officially established on June 15, 2001, and its headquarters was established in China. The official languages of this organization are Russian and Chinese.
 
In 2005, four years after the official establishment of this organization, Iran became an observer member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, along with India and Pakistan, and a year later (2006 AD), it submitted a request for permanent membership in this organization. India and Pakistan became permanent members of this organization in the summer of 2016, and currently this organization has eight main members.
 
Afghanistan was also accepted as an observer member in this organization in 2012, but due to internal developments, not only was Afghanistan unable to become a main member of this important regional organization, Afghanistan has even lost the position of an observer member.
 
Currently, China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The United Arab Emirates also became a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in April of this year.
 
It is said that after becoming a permanent member, Iran will be present in all decisions of the organization, including any new member, including permanent member, observer and dialogue partner, must obtain the consent of all members to join this organization.
 
This organization was formed on the basis of security and political cooperation and tried to follow this issue throughout its life, but in recent years, especially after the sanctions of Russia and China, the tendency of this organization has increased towards economic cooperation.
 
It should be mentioned that Ayatollah Sayed Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, is also going to give a speech at today's meeting of this organization.