Tehran, Jun 2 (IANS): The Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said Iran's permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be finalised in early July.

Making the remarks in an interview with Iran's IRIB news agency published on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian added that following the approval from the Kyrgyz parliament, all SCO founding members have given Iran the greenlight toward permanent membership.

Therefore, Iran's permanent membership will be finalised in the next summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State, which is set to be held on July 4 and attended by the Iranian President, he said.

In November 2022, the Iranian parliament approved a bill on the country's SCO membership by an overwhelming majority, Xinhua news agency reported.

In September 2021, the 21st meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State held in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe declared the decision to start admitting Iran as a full member of the organisation.

According to a SCO statement, India is set to host the 22nd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State on July 4, 2023, in the virtual format.