Ahmadinejad due in Astana for SCO meet

Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure for Astana on Tuesday morning, President Ahmadinejad said Iran plays an “influential and determining” role in international developments, IRNA reported. 

The Iranian chief executive added that Iran enjoys “very good” interactions with main SCO member countries -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. 

President Ahmadinejad, who is heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, is scheduled to deliver a speech at the two-day SCO summit. 

He will also hold talks with senior officials attending the SCO meeting, including his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao. 

The SCO leaders are also likely to take up issues pertaining to regional and international peace, security and cooperation as well as economic development. 

The SCO is an intergovernmental security organization that was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. 

Iran, India, Mongolia, and Pakistan are the observer states of this organization. Iran, which has held an observer status since 2005, is seeking full membership. 

Iran's bid for full membership in the SCO comes as it would allow the Islamic Republic to join and create a powerful coalition with China and Russia. 

Political analysts consider the SCO as a potential future counterweight to NATO's growing influence in Eurasia. 

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi traveled to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in late November 2010 at the head of a high-ranking delegation and attended the ninth prime ministers' meeting of the SCO in the Tajik capital. 

On the sidelines of the meeting, Rahimi held talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and discussed the expansion of bilateral cooperation in the fields of investment, banking, and academia.