Iran to join Shanghai alliance with China, Russia next week: Lavrov

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Iran will be legally accepted as a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China, Russia, and Central Asian countries.

“At the meeting of heads of state on July 4, Iran’s full membership will be approved,” Lavrov stated at the launch of a SCO center in Moscow.

In recent months, Iran has increased its diplomacy with both friends and rivals, attempting to minimize its isolation, strengthen its economy, and project power.

Membership in the SCO was previously planned, and Iran hopes to be admitted shortly to another grouping that excludes Western countries: the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdoulahian 

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has its headquarters in China, is a diplomatic organization with eight members, including India and Pakistan.

Belarus, a Kremlin ally, has also applied to join, and Lavrov said on Friday that next week’s virtual summit would “begin the procedure” for that membership to take effect.