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Countries under UN sanctions cannot join SCO - Medvedev


A country under UN Security Council sanctions cannot become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"Countries which have difficulties with their legal status cannot claim SCO membership," Medvedev told a news conference, referring to new membership criteria approved at a SCO summit in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

"A country under UN sanctions cannot claim membership of the organization," he added.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the summit that Iran, which is now under a fresh round of UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear program, cannot join the SCO but can retain observer status.

"[The document] clearly states that one of the criteria [for joining] is that a country must not be under UN Security Council sanctions," Lavrov said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who spoke at the summit, reiterated that Tehran's nuclear program is of a peaceful civilian nature.

The SCO includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council approved a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

The sanctions include tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo. They also impose an asset ban and a travel freeze on more than three dozen companies and individuals.

TASHKENT, June 11 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100611/159390139.html

This is quiet an interesting statement indeed especially since Pakistan and India, both states which are technically in a proxy war against one another, are to be accepted into the SCO.
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Shanghai Cooperation Organization To Accept Two Nuclear Enemies (India & Pakistan)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is holding the second day of its annual summit in the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan (a former Soviet republic), on June 11. In addition to the traditional agenda – the questions of the economic, investment cooperation and security – the members of the summit will discuss the situations in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The list of the members of the organization, which currently consists of five former Soviet republics and China, may expand in the nearest future. It has been reported recently that Pakistan (150 million-strong population) and India (billion-strong) are willing to join the SCO.

It sounds intriguing because both Pakistan and India are nuclear states. More importantly, the relations between these two countries have been intense for years – they often stand on the brink of war with each other.

If Pakistan and India join the SCO, the organization will become a structure incorporating most populated areas of the world – China and India - as well as the largest state in the world – Russia. This may give the organization a new chance to participate in international decision-making procedures.

Iran was also seeking the SCO membership. However, it became clear June 10 that it will not be allowed to receive it. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is angry with Russia and China for their support of new sanctions against his nation. In addition, Russia and China insist that a sanctioned state does not have a right to join the SCO.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization incorporates Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Four other countries – Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia – act as observers. Belarus and Sri Lanka obtained the dialogue status at the end of April.

The organization originally appeared as a group of five states on June 15, 2001. The heads of five states gathered in China’s largest city to set up a regional organization to struggle against terrorism, separatism and extremist – the so-called three forces of evil. Uzbekistan joined the group the following year. The Charter of the organization was signed in June 2002 in St. Petersburg.

In 2006, the SCO said that struggling against international drug mafia as the financial support of terrorism would be one of its top priorities. In 2008, the organization announced its active participation in the solution of the Afghan problems.

That is why it is absolutely clear that the current meeting of the organization is devoted to the struggle against terrorism, extremism, organized crime and drug trafficking.

Special attention to the transnational trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan is very easy to understand. It is the basic source of instability, extremism, organized crime and terrorism in Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in the Caucasus and Kosovo.

Vladimir Putin said during his speech at the recent security summit in Turkey that the problem of production and trafficking of Afghan drugs developed from a regional problem into a highly relevant matter of international scale.

“Terrorist activities in the Northern Caucuses are based on the profit received from the sale of Afghan drugs. Kosovo has become a supplier of Afghan opiate drugs to European markets,” Viktor Ivanov, the head of the federal service against drug trafficking said.

As for the situation in Kyrgyzstan, a member of the SCO, officials said that the nation would remain a full-fledged member of the organization despite the complicated political situation in the country.

The members of the summit will also approve regulations about the procedure to accept new members in the organization. The SCO currently takes the territory of three-fifths of the square of Eurasia (30 million km2). The citizens of SCO members represent a quarter of the planet’s population.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/113767-0/

what is the reason for sudden Russian shift in policy against Iran and how will relations look like in future ?

Iran has to make sure it's foreignj policy is equilibrated.

I personnaly think that smoothing things with local neighbours (like Turkey) only brought good in the past, and still now. So continuing this way with Egypt and other countries can do good.

However, bitching toward China and Russia for support in UNSC is useless, these are big powers that care more about there short economic interests... Never forget that NAM support of Iran didn't change after all these years. And newcomers such as Brazil, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt, etc... can proove more reliable than present big powers.

But for Russia, yes, we should limit relations to pragmatic technology transfers, nothing more. Sams as China.

++

Malaysia and Egypt are US slaves. Iran should not rely on any country, just try to expand economic relations with as many countries that wish to [NAM countries], until we're self-reliant in everything.

Is that sustainable?
I guess iran shoud  master important technologies, food production and machinery. important changes to the secondary education system are required to produce people with multiple fields of knowledge

Putin welcomes Iran, Pakistan to join SCO



Monday, November 7, 2011
MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L), Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) and Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi arrive at a meeting of the SCO. REUTERS photo


Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out yesterday at “arrogant world powers” as he hosted his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao for a regional security summit Moscow bills as a counterpart to NATO.

Russia’s likely new head of state after next year’s presidential elections accused Western nations of hypocrisy for backing revolutions in North African countries that previously enjoyed their strong support. “It really is just like you said -- these are arrogant world powers,” Putin said in response to remarks from Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Saint Petersburg. “They also supported the old North African regimes,” news agencies quoted Putin as saying in a clear reference to European powers and the United States.

“But what is interesting, they also supported the North African revolutions as well, the ones that overthrew the old regimes.” Russia strongly opposed NATO’s air campaign in Libya and has warned the West against acting tough towards its close Soviet-era ally Syria.

The 10-year-old SCO joins Russia and China with the four ex-Soviet states of Central Asian in a loose security union that Moscow hopes to develop into a more powerful force rivaling the Brussels-based NATO bloc. Iran is one of three nations along with Pakistan and Iran to have applied to join the organization. Monday’s summit brought together mainly prime ministers from the SCO’s member and observer states. But the group made no formal decision on expansion at yesterday’s meeting and was short on other concrete results. “Russia would welcome the positive review of applications to join our organization in one form or another from any interested nation,” Putin was quoted as saying.


http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=putin-welcomes-iran-pakistan-to-join-sco-2011-11-07

It is exactly what is going to happen. I am with Izirbat.

Hi there. Greetings!

Will membership in SCO reduce the chances of any country making aggressive moves against Iran?

Thanks.

Iran should aim to be a member of  as many unions and international organisations in the region as possible . To counter the Europeans and North Americans NATO . These unions should offer an alternative to the world in terms of new politics and new economics and new security arrangements . 

SCO is a bunch of spineless bunch.
NATO invites nations to become member when they notice that country is in danger (and by that the interest of NATO).
SCO says wants to wait until danger is gone before allowing entrance into SCO, lol. Point of SCO existence?

what would we even gain from joining a group which is filled with backstabber's?

Iran wont gain much by joining SCO ...

which brings me to another question .... Cant iran make a regional union of its own influenced states ... Iran ,  Iraq , Suriye , Lebanon , Armenia ,  Afghanistan , Turkmenistan ....  a parallel  to  PGCC  ...