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Shanghai group sides with Iran

Vladimir Radyuhin

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is likely to reiterate its support for Iran at its summit meeting, which will take place three weeks before a G8 summit.

THE SHANGHAI Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has sided with Iran in its standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, throwing a spanner in U.S. plans to punish Teheran. At a meeting of Foreign Ministers from the SCO, which comprises China, Russia, and the former Soviet Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the group urged negotiations to resolve the Iran issue.

Even though the Ministers issued no formal statement on Iran, they made their position clear. "This problem must be resolved by talks," Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "We should not isolate Iran nor put pressure on Iran."

"Nobody should threaten these countries [Iran and North Korea] or use military force ... Russia and China will not vote for any resolution that is an excuse for the use of force," Mr. Lavrov told reporters after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in Beijing on the sidelines of the SCO meet.

In a further boost to Teheran, the Shanghai group reportedly discussed Iran's full membership in the group. Iran was granted observer status in the SCO last year along with India and Pakistan. Earlier, the same status was given to Mongolia.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said ahead of the Shanghai meeting on Monday that Iran was seeking to become a full member of the organisation. Since Iran already has observer status and wants to become a full member, the country's membership should be discussed, Mr. Liu was quoted as saying by China Daily.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mohammadi said last month that his country hoped to join the SCO at the organisation's summit this summer. This is unlikely to happen as SCO members are still to reach a consensus on the organisation's further expansion.

While some SCO members who are vulnerable to U.S. pressure, such as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, spoke out against any further enlargement of the group citing lack of proper procedures, the principal players, Russia and China, are less categorical.

"This question requires further discussion and preparation of a legal basis," Mr. Liu said in Beijing on Thursday, pointing out that several countries approached the SCO with "official and unofficial" requests for joining the organisation.

At the same time, SCO Foreign Ministers took the first step towards its expansion by endorsing a draft observer statute, which is expected to be adopted at the organisation's summit in Shanghai next month.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said through his spokesman that he planned to take "active" part in the Shanghai summit, which would celebrate SCO's fifth anniversary. China, which will host the June SCO summit, confirmed sending an invitation to the Iranian leader.

While Iran's full membership in the SCO may not be imminent, there are other ways to get Iran more actively involved in the Shanghai group.

Iran may take part in the SCO's energy, transport, and infrastructure projects that will give it broader access to new technologies and investment. Thereby the SCO will give Iran some protection against growing U.S. pressure.

Teheran in turn could help Moscow and Beijing to hold back further build-up of U.S. influence in Central Asia.

Russia and China may also use the prospect of granting Iran full membership in the SCO as a carrot to induce Teheran to accept stricter international controls over its nuclear programme.

The SCO is likely to reiterate its support for Iran at its summit meeting in Shanghai, which will take place three weeks before a Group of Eight summit hosted by Russia in St. Petersburg. This will give Moscow a strong card to play against Washington, which said it will raise the Iran issue at the G8 meeting.

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