Iran’s energy minister says Tehran has proposed seven areas for strengthening energy cooperation among member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

According to The Iran Project, adressing the 4th SCO energy ministers' meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian said that member states can ensure energy security by forging cooperation.

A strategy for energy cooperation among SCO member states until 2030 was approved by the ministers in the meeting.

Iran, like other member states, presented its proposals to strengthen the document, and “fortunately, they were approved by the other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Mehrabian said.

Elaborating on the proposals, Mehrabian said that Tehran stressed the importance of creating a regional electricity market between the member states, promoting energy security, and enhancing the capacity of electric desalination devices.

The technical development and commercialization of energy storage systems and electric vehicles, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, the exchange of technical knowledge and scientific cooperation, and the exchange of technical and engineering services in the field of energy were also among the seven areas which Tehran says could lead to enhanced cooperation between SCO member states and sustainable growth and development in the field of energy, according to the minister.

Mehrabian said the approved document will be “a turning point in the development of cooperation between the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the field of energy.”

He added that the implementation of the document “needs a road map and an executive plan.”