IRI president departs for SCO summit in China

IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran for Beijing on Tuesday to attend the 12th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit to be held on June 6-7. The President was seen off by first Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Sayyed din Hosseini, Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mehdi Ghazanfari and top pesidential avisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi are accompanying the pesident in the visit. China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are the SCO member countries. I.R.Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan hold observer status in the organization.