According to an Iran Press report, the eight heads of state of full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as the heads of state of four observer countries within the SCO, are participating at the summit in Qingdao.
The full members are China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. The four observer nations are the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Belarus. A number of international organizations are also attending the summit.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is attending the summit, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping. Senior officials, including foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Economy and finance minister, Massoud Karbasian, senior economic adviser, Mohammad Nahavandian, and head of the Central Bank of Iran, Valliollah Seif, are accompanying President Rouhani at the summit.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit (SCO) in Qingdao, China.
Rouhani hailed close ties between Russia and Iran. Iran has an observer status in the SCO, and Putin said Moscow supports Iran's full-fledged membership of the organization.
Rouhani said that the U.S. exit from the nuclear agreement with Iran warrants an "important and serious discussion between our two countries."
Rouhani also hailed Russia-Iran cooperation in Syria, saying "our role in the region is quite significant." Russia and Iran have staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, helping him to turn the tide of war.
Trump said last month Washington was withdrawing from what he called "a horrible one-sided deal" and would reimpose U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.
