TIANJIN, September 1. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus platform is an ideal vehicle for expanding and deepening cooperation between countries, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said.

"With the founding of the SCO came the hope that countries that belong to different civilizations and have different cultures and history, as well as different political, economic and military capacities, can interact and cooperate as equals. <...> Efforts to expand the organization’s dialogue with other like-minded nations create a valuable opportunity to deepen and boost this cooperation," he pointed out at an SCO Plus meeting.

According to Pezeshkian, in the past three decades, the SCO has been able to develop a new model of cooperation between countries, which is based on mutual respect and trust rather than on incitement of hatred and confrontation.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded in the Chinese city of Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The six founding members were Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined the organization in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024. SCO Plus meetings also involve other countries and international organizations.