On July 18, Azerbaijan officially applied to upgrade its status within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) from a dialogue partner to an observer state. This information was disclosed by Mehrdad Kiaei, Iran's national coordinator in the SCO Secretariat. 

Kiaei revealed, "Several countries have applied for membership, including Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, and others. These countries (except Bangladesh) want to change their status from dialogue partner to observer."

Notably, the SCO, established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, has steadily grown in influence and membership. The organization expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan as full members. Kiaei explained the process for membership: "First, they must become observers, and only then can they become full participants." He also noted that Bangladesh, which is not currently a dialogue partner, could potentially skip this stage and directly apply for observer status, provided all member states agree.