DUBAI—Iran has moved a step closer toward becoming a permanent member of a central Asian security body dominated by Russia and China, as Tehran seeks to overcome economic isolation imposed by U.S. sanctions.
Foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said last Thursday that Iran had signed a memorandum of obligations to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which was holding a summit at the time in Uzbekistan.
The body, formed in 2001 as a talking shop for Russia, China, and ex-Soviet states in Central Asia, expanded four years ago to include India and Pakistan, with a view to playing a bigger role as a counterweight to Western influence in the region….