Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who is leading an official delegation to China, on Saturday afternoon met with Nurlan Yermekbayev, new Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Beijing. In the meeting, Araghchi referred to the increasing importance of the SCO for advancing multilateralism and ensuring the security and political interests of member countries. He then said the SCO, due to membership of significant and influential countries in regional and international developments, including two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with large economies and several important regional players, can play an impactful and growing role in enhancing multilateralism and strengthening cooperation among member countries in various security, political, and economic fields. The SCO’s secretary general also expressed pleasure regarding Iran's full membership in the organization since 2023. Yermekbayev described Iran's capacities for further strengthening the position and role of the SCO as very important and welcomed the initiatives proposed by Iran to expand and enhance activities within the grouping in economic, banking, and commercial spheres. The Islamic Republic of Iran, China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus are the 10 main members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Mongolia and Afghanistan are observer members, while Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives, and Myanmar are dialogue partners of the organization.