SAMARCAND, September 15. /TASS/. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi thanked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for supporting the process of Iran’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

At their meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of a SCO summit, Iran's president also noted that all members of the organization would benefit from the country's SCO membership. "We believe that the membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a format of partnership that will benefit not only our country, but also all members of the association," he said.

Currently, the SCO brings together India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia are observer states, while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka are its partner states. It is expected that the Samarkand summit will complete the procedure of Iran’s admission and will grant the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. An application by Belarus to join the SCO as a full member is also being studied.