Iran to join Shanghai alliance with China and Russia next week

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says western nations are applying 'brazen pressure' on countries in Africa

Sergey Lavrov at the opening of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation National Peoples’ Diplomacy Centre in Moscow. AFP

Iran will be formally approved as a member of the regional Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) with China, Russia and other central Asian countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

“At the meeting of heads of state on July 4, the full membership of Iran will be approved,” Mr Lavrov said at the opening of an SCO centre in Moscow.

The SCO calls itself the world's largest defence and security organisation and is made up of eight countries – China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Four countries have observer status – Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

At a news conference in Moscow, Mr Lavrov also touched on the future of Wagner operations in Africa, a defector allegedly poisoned in 2018 and the latest from Ukraine.

He said western nations were applying “brazen pressure” on countries in Africa and Latin America to comply with measures taken against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

He said that it would be up to African countries to decide if they wanted to continue working with the Wagner Group.

A short-lived mutiny by the Wagner mercenary fighters was defeated at the weekend, apparently largely peacefully when chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his troops to pull back after getting to within 200km of Moscow.

Wagner has numerous operations in Africa, including Mali and the Central African Republic.

“There are direct agreements between governments of African countries and the Wagner private military company,” Mr Lavrov said.

“The fate of these agreements between African countries and Wagner PMC will be decided primarily by the governments of the relevant countries and depending on their interest in continuing such co-operation on providing security to the authorities.”

He denied that Russia's armed forces intentionally attacked civilian targets in Ukraine, saying they targeted only military infrastructure or other military targets.

Instead he accused Ukraine of stationing troops and heavy weapons at or near civilian infrastructure, such as schools and apartment buildings.

Ukraine and its western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of attacking civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, power stations and residential buildings.

Mr Lavrov said Ukraine was playing a dangerous game regarding the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, accusing Kyiv of “pure lies” with statements suggesting that Moscow plans to blow up the plant.

Russia, he said, had expressed its serious concerns about Ukraine's “provocative actions”.

Moscow has also recently asked Britain about the whereabouts of Sergei and Yuliya Skripal, who British authorities say were poisoned by Russian agents in Salisbury in 2018.

Moscow denied involvement in the affair. Mr Skripal is a former double gent who spied for Britain.