On July 4, the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization officially welcomed Iran as its newest member, bringing the total number of member states to nine.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan as its founding members. In 2017, the organization underwent its first expansion, granting India and Pakistan membership status.
During the Samarkand Summit in September 2022, a memorandum was signed, outlining Iran’s obligations for joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The process of accepting Belarus as a member state also commenced at the same summit.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), initiated by China, is widely seen as a threat to Western democracy led by the U.S. Uyghurs believe that the SCO was established to prevent neighboring Turkic Central Asian states from supporting Uyghur political activism and independence movements.
