TEHRAN - Iran’s deputy permanent representative to the UN said on Wednesday that currently the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the United Nations are cooperating to resolve conflicts, prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, fight on extremism, etc.

Gholam Hossein Dehghani made the remarks during a speech at an event entitled “The UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Jointly Countering Challenges and Threats”.

“At present, the SCO and the UN co-operate actively in such fields as prevention and resolution of conflicts, fight against terrorism, non-proliferation of WMD, countering transnational crime, and illegal drugs, providing international information security,” Dehqhani noted. 

Following is full text of Dehqhani’s speech:

First of all, I would like to thank Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan and the current Chairman of the Shanghai Cooperation organization (SCO), the UN Secretary General and Mr. Rshid Alimov, the SCO Secretary, for organizing this High Level Special Event, entitled: “The United Nations and The Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Jointly Countering Challenges and Threats”.

The challenges and threats in our today’s world are much more multi-faceted, inter-related and complicated than any time in the past and, thus, it requires a much more shared and collective response at the national, regional and international levels. To this end, more cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations is now much more necessary than any time in the past.

Regional organizations are better positioned to grasp the essence of the issues at hand in a realistic way and provide a better understanding of the facts on the ground. In many cases, they are also equipped with preventive mechanisms customized to the local realities and requirement.

The cooperation between the UN and its regional partners includes an ever growing number of issues. Counter terrorism and violent extremism, drug trafficking. Organized crimes, peace keeping and peace building, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber-terrorism, and illegal migration are fields where cooperation between the UN and the regional organizations such as SCO could gain momentum and take place.

The legal framework for interaction between the UN and the SCO on issues of international peace and security in line with Article VIII of the UN Charter was created by the signing of a Joint Declaration on Co-operation between the two Organizations' Secretariats in 2010. At present, the SCO and the UN co-operate actively in such fields as prevention and resolution of conflicts, fight against terrorism (Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure is operating for that purpose within the SCO), non-proliferation of WMD, countering transnational crime, and illegal drugs, providing international information security.

In this context, it is encouraging that the SCO has actively supported efforts by the international community and the UN institutions to restore peace in Afghanistan and has consistently stood for maintaining the central coordinating role of the UN in the process of Afghan settlement.

The UN should continue its efforts to build on coordination and interaction with such Organizations on the basis of Chapter VIII of its Charter while these organizations also should try to align their potentials with the terms of engaging in accordance with the UN Charter. 

Cooperation between the UN and the SCO can help enhance security, development and stability, that are interlinked and mutually enforcing, in SCO macro-region.

Iran, as a SCO observer for more than a decade, has followed the activities of this Organization, participated actively in its sessions and has strong ties with the SCO and all its members. As a centerpiece of peace and stability in the Region, the Islamic of Republic of Iran, as a matter of policy, has always supported multilateral cooperation, as the best way to face the increasing challenges and threats in the fields of security and development. We consider terrorism, violent extremism, especially Deash, along with its Takfiri ideology, as one of the most dangerous threats of our time and believe the cooperation between the UN and the SCO could be further enhanced to meet this threat.

We hope that the holding of this event will further improve and deepen the cooperation between the UN and the SCO and help develop collective innovative approaches to peace, development and stability in the SCO region and can be applied to other parts of the Globe, as appropriate.