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shunned by the Western-led world, while at the same time it has also faced down Communism from Moscow and Beijing.
Russia delighted
However, since China’s opening-up to the world and Russia’s changing economic conditions since the fall of USSR, Iran has increasingly found itself in the middle of a rapidly moving regional environment.
The SCO accession also paves the way for Iran to participate more actively in regional security and economic affairs, providing opportunities for the country to strengthen its position on the international stage while no longer being an outlying pariah.
Vital for Iran
Vladimir Evseev, the Head of the Department of Eurasian Integration and Development of the SCO of the Institute
of CIS countries, in an interview with TASS, emphasised that this milestone is vital for Iran.
He said the US had successfully put Iran in a state of political isolation for years, and full SCO membership symbolises that SCO member states are against this policy of isolation.
"The promotion of Iran's status in the SCO from an observer level to full membership indicates that the SCO family's countries, mainly the SCO member states, are against the policy of isolating the Islamic Republic of Iran, else Iran would not have been accepted into the SCO," he explained.
Evseev highlighted that Iran's SCO entry not only disrupts this US-led isolation but also allows the SCO to access the
Near and Middle East, primarily the oil- and gas-rich Persian Gulf.
Rial doesn’t gain
Despite official talk of security guarantees and economic integration by President Raisi and his cabinet, the Iranian rial (IRR) has failed to gain against the US dollar on the informal market.
Traders on Tehran’s Ferdowsi Street were circumspect in their praise of Tehran’s ascension to the SCO on July 4, with many suggesting that despite a brief gain against the greenback, people remained unsure of what the new deal means for the country’s currency.
By close of trade the rial was continuing to trade above IRR500,000 against the US dollar, a new floor after recent gains in the past few months.
Zelenskiy calls for Saakashvili's immediate release as former Georgian president's health deteriorates
Tornike Mandaria in Tbilisi
Ukraine has called for the immediate release of Mikheil Saakashvili, after the imprisoned former president of Georgia appeared terribly emaciated during his first public appearance since February.
Speaking from hospital in a trial conducted via video link, Saakashvili reaffirmed his innocence and urged the Georgian government to permit him to engage in open debates, emphasising the importance of allowing the people to determine the truth and make their own judgments.
“Give me the opportunity to participate openly in the debate and let the people decide whether you are right or me,” he said. “If you want, put an iron bracelet on me so that I can't escape. Why are you afraid to openly enter into a debate with Saakashvili?”
Saakashvili's serious decline in health led Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call for his immediate release. Zelenskiy urged the Georgian authorities to transfer Saakashvili to Ukraine for essential treatment and care, emphasising the sanctity of life as a fundamental European value.
“Right now, Russia is killing Ukrainian citizen Mykhailo Saakashvili at the hands of the Georgian government” he said in a statement. “We have repeatedly called on official Tbilisi to stop this insult and agree on Saakashvili's return to Ukraine. Our partners, in coordination with Ukraine, also offered various rescue options”.
Zelenskiy instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the Georgian ambassador and express a strong protest. The president also requested that the
ambassador leave Ukraine within 48 hours for consultations.
Saakashvili, who served as Georgia's president from 2004 to 2013, currently serves a six-year prison sentence for abuse of power – an allegation he and his supporters deem politically motivated. Additionally, he is under trial for separate charges related to the dispersal of an
anti government rally in 2007 and illegal border crossing when he secretly returned to the country in 2021.
Saakashvili's medical team say that
his health has seriously worsened
since his imprisonment in October 2021, exacerbated by his repeated hunger strikes in protest against his incarceration. The former president, 55, has reportedly lost some 40kg and now weighs around 60kg.
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