Rumsfeld questions Iran's involvement with SCO

The Hindu:

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Saturday questioned Iran's involvement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), saying the regime's terrorist links clashed with the aims of the Russian and Chinese-dominated group.

Speaking at a regional security conference, Rumsfeld said he found it ``strange'' that the SCO would include Iran, given the group's stated opposition to terrorism and extremism.

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been invited to attend the annual SCO summit in Shanghai this month. READ MORE

Iran is an observer to group, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and has applied for full membership.