On 11 March 2022, Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, hosted the signing of a Protocol following consultations between the authorised representatives of the SCO member states, on the one hand, and the authorised representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other.
According to the legal procedure regulating the accession to the SCO with the status of a member state, the document enshrines Iran's obligation to observe the goals and principles of the SCO Charter and join all the international agreements and regulations in effect in the SCO.
A Memorandum on Iran's commitments with regard to obtaining the status of an SCO member state is to be signed at the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in Samarkand in September of this year, whereupon the final decision will be adopted to endow the Islamic Republic with this status.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Vladimir Norov said that the accession to the SCO of such a large and authoritative state as Iran would expand the SCO's geographical scope and provide additional opportunities for the development of cooperation within its framework. SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming made an online address, stressing that Iran's full-fledged SCO membership would help to build up regional security and stability collaboration and develop trade and economic cooperation. It will also promote people's mutual cultural enrichment in the SCO space.
The decision to start the admission procedure for Iran to join the SCO as a member state was adopted at the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council in Dushanbe in September 2021.