Iran will be admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact, as an observer state before the year is out, according to a Monday statement by the Uzbek Foreign Ministry.
"This year, within Uzbekistan's chairmanship, Iran will be admitted to the SCO as an observer state … A memorandum on Iran's obligations as a SCO member will also be signed in Samarkand," Uzbekistan's acting foreign minister, Vladimir Norov, said at a panel meeting in Moscow.
Tehran's admission was accepted at the Dushanbe summit last year, when Tajikistan was the Shanghai Pact's rotating chair. However, finalizing that process could take two years.