TEHRAN – Iran’s Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said that he signed a security memorandum of understanding (MOU) with his Uzbek counterpart during a recent ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan.

“The signing of this memorandum can make our relations wider, more comprehensive and stronger,” Vahidi said. 

Iran’s request to become a member of the SCO was accepted last year. Iran needs to take some steps to become a full member.  

“Shanghai is an important organization in which Iran is present as an observer in this organization, but now Iran's membership in the Shanghai Organization is going through,” Vahidi said in remarks to Iran’s state news agency IRNA on Monday. 

He added, “Since Iran's official membership in the Shanghai Organization has been agreed, it is necessary for the Islamic Republic of Iran to actively participate in these meetings.”

The minister said it was the fourth meeting of the interior ministers of the SCO and Iran was also invited to attend.

“As the representative of Iran in this meeting, I announced my readiness and capacities to help the Shanghai Organization as much as possible. In addition to this meeting, bilateral meetings with the interior ministers of member states were also held, which was important.”

The Uzbek acting foreign minister, Vladimir Norov, said in late July that planning is underway for Iran to sign the document needed for its full membership in the SCO in the next summit of the organization, which will be held soon, according to a Fars News report.

Norov said the annual SCO summit would be held on 15-16 September.

“It is also expected that the memorandum granting the status of dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar will also be signed. In this way, the legal registration of their presence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is completed in the mentioned format,” he added. 

He made the remarks after a meeting of SCO foreign ministers held in Tashkent. 

“The foreign ministers welcomed the requests of Bahrain and the Maldives to receive the status of dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The relevant decisions will be signed within the framework of the meeting of the Council of Presidents of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the city of Samarkand,” Norov said. “The parties are also actively considering Belarus' request for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”

He noted, “In the framework of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, opinions were exchanged regarding the preparations for the important event - the meeting of the Council of Presidents of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will be held on September 15 and 16, 2022 in the city of Samarkand. The foreign ministers coordinated a large package of documents for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Presidents.”

He said these documents included the draft Samarkand statement, a comprehensive plan for the implementation of the Good Neighbor Agreement, friendship and long-term cooperation, the theory of cooperation for the development of interconnection and the creation of effective transportation corridors, the program of encouraging industrial cooperation, and the regulations for the honorary title of “Goodwill Ambassador of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.”