According to Russian News Agency TASS, President Vladimir Putin made the remark in the opening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, adding "Iran has been taking a proactive part in the organization’s work as observer for a long while, since 2005. I think that after the resolution of the Iranian nuclear problem and lifting of the UN sanctions there are no obstacles for a positive answer to Iran’s request.”
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev also supported Iran’s membership in the SCO, and told TASS on Friday that “possible admission of India, Pakistan and Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an important step in the development of the Eurasian Economic Space.”
In a declaration of the 15th anniversary of the Organization, adopted after the summit on Friday, member countries welcomed the practical implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal, also known as the JCPOA, saying the successful implementation of which “will favor expanding international cooperation for peace, security, stability in the region and beyond it."
On June 23, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, uniting 18 countries, marked its 15th anniversary in Tashkent. Iran is participating in the Summit with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who also held separate meetings with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani on the sidelines of the Summit. During his meeting with President Ghani, the two sides conferred on expansion of bilateral relations as well as regional developments.
Currently, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are full-fledged members-states of the SCO. Member states-observers include Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus, Mongolia, India and Pakistan, with the latter two expected to become full members. Dialogue partners are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka.
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