During the 23rd SCO summit, which took place virtually and was hosted by India on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic of Iran was officially accepted as the ninth full member of the bloc, the second expansion since the SCO was founded in 2001.
Iran's formal membership was granted after completing the final accession process and fulfilling procedural commitments. The approval and signatures of the other member states were obtained.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi addressed the summit afterwards.
A ceremony was also held in Beijing, in front of the SCO headquarters, where the Iranian flag was raised alongside the flags of the other eight full members.
SCO was formed in 2001 by China and Russia to counter Western alliances. It also includes India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Iran's request for full and official membership was approved by the eight member states during the 21st SCO summit in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, in September 2021.
Prior to that, Iran had been an observer member of the SCO since 2005, along with Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia.
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