It is official: Iran will not be offered full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2009. Member states deem Tehran, which is currently embroiled in a dispute with the international community over its nuclear program, too big a liability.
"[The] admission of new members to the SCO should strengthen the organization, but not cause new problems. We would like to preserve the positive image of the SCO gained over the eight years of its functioning," the Kazinform news agency quoted SCO Secretary-General Bolat Nurgaliyev as saying March 19.
Iran is currently an SCO observer. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in February that Tehran wants to become a fully fledged member of the organization this year. Full membership would have provided Tehran with a mutual assistance guarantee, which obligates SCO members to come to the aid of a fellow member that comes under attack by a foreign state. The next SCO summit will be held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in June.
