NEW DELHI, July 4. /TASS/. President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi urged Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members to abandon the US dollar since it is a weapon of Western hegemony.

"The hegemony of the [US] dollar facilitates Western hegemony. It is necessary to abandon it and use national currencies in settlements between countries in order to create a new economic system," he said.

The SCO officially announced Iran's membership in the organization on Tuesday. The Islamic Republic became the ninth member of the organization. The SCO was founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001.

All member states of the organization take part in the SCO summit in New Delhi. Iran, Belarus and Mongolia are invited as observers. Turkmenistan participates as a guest. The summit is also attended by the heads of two bodies of the organization - the Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. The heads of six international and regional organizations - the UN, ASEAN, CIS, CSTO, EAEU, and CICA - are also invited.