Polit Affairs - In the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Iran finally and officially became a permanent member at Shanghai cooperation organization.
what does it mean for Iran and for the organization?
Tehran started its pursue to become a member from 2005 and in 2022, despite ongoing sanctions and the so called maximum pressure or isolation, it finally reached its goal. Iran has signed a Memorandum of Obligations to become a permanent member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Hossein Amirabdollahian wrote on social media Iran's foreign minister: By signing the document for full membership of the SCO, now Iran has entered a new stage of various economic, commercial, transit and energy cooperation,”
The statement came as leaders from China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan headed to the latter’s city of Samarkand for a summit of the eight-member SCO, a security group formed by Beijing and Moscow as a counterweight to United States influence.
Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia are observer countries, while the organisation has six “dialogue partners”: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
He added that the SCO, the world’s largest regional organisation consisting of 40 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), wants to further expand. Iran’s full membership is expected to become effective in April 2023.
So why ran has been trying to join SCO?
Rather than major political or economic gains from SCO, Iran’s main takeaway from this success in the short term may be limited to a boost in prestige and diplomacy. to show Tehran is not isolated as US and Israel want.
New government of Raisi has been saying that they want to change longstanding policy of western priority and turn to eastern powers for more economic gain. SCO is the best option to show this strategy.
The main issue with Iran’s approach towards the SCO is that it looks at it as a “concert of non-Western great powers” rather than a modern international organisation. This is despite the fact that countries such as Pakistan and India are US’s close partners, and even and China have never been willing to openly challenge the US on the global scene.
The combination of these two misunderstandings, and also Iran’s self-perception as a natural hegemon in West Asia, would make the whole thing appear to the Iranian leaders as Iran joining other anti-Western great powers to form a strong coalition that is going to challenge the US hegemony
But, From a diplomatic perspective, the approval is certainly significant. This marks the first time Iran becomes a full member of a major regional bloc since its 1979 revolution.
Iran is eyeing political and economic gains, especially with China, with which Iran signed a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement in March, and Russia, with which Iran is looking to expand a pre-existing cooperation agreement.
“Moreover, Iran could gain significant access to the Central Asian region, which can be regarded as a market for exports of Iranian goods.
But to what extent Tehran is ready to grab these chances and make more money? looking at present economic potentials, I doubt it.
#Iran #Russia #China #India #Uzbekistan #samarkand #SCO #Pakistan
Subscribe For More Videos On Hot Issues 🙏🏻
