Sputnik - China regrets the unilateral decision of the United States to pull out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), informally known as the Iran nuclear deal, and is ready to conduct joint work with Russia and other states to preserve this agreement, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.



"We are upset by�the US unilateral decision to�withdraw from�the Joint Comprehensive Plan of�Action on�the Iranian nuclear program. China is ready to�cooperate with�Russia and other countries to�preserve the JCPOA," Chinese President Xi Jinping said during�the summit of�the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in�the Chinese city of�Qingdao.


The SCO summit is being held in�the Chinese coastal city of�Qingdao on�June 9-10. There are plans to�sign about�20 joint-documents at�the summit; the most hotly anticipated of�these is the Qingdao Declaration.
"It is necessary to�lay a firm foundation for�ensuring peace and security together, it is important to�actively implement the SCO cooperation program on�fighting the three evil forces [terrorism, separatism, extremism] for�2019-2021, to�continue the holding of 'Peace Mission' joint anti-terrorism drills, and to�strengthen cooperation in�defense and security, [in particular,] information security as�well as�through law enforcement agencies," Xi stated.


The Chinese president noted that all the SCO countries should respect an independent path of�development chosen by�each of�the SCO states and take into�account the key interests and concerns of�each other.

The SCO, established in�2001, is currently comprised of�eight permanent member states: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India. Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have observer status, while Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka have the status of�dialogue partners. The organization's key goals include cooperation in�the area of�international security and counter-terrorism.