Iran wins SCO backing against US strikes, but will it be enough?

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has condemned military strikes on Iranian territory, giving Tehran a diplomatic statement of support as the United States resumes attacks aimed at forcing an end to the six-month-old war.

The declaration issued after the SCO summit in Bishkek described the strikes as violations of international law. Leaders at the summit also referred indirectly to instability in the Middle East without naming the United States, a formulation that appeared to offer Iran tacit backing.

For Tehran, however, the declaration may prove more symbolic than substantial. Iran has turned to multilateral groupings including the SCO and Brics for political cover as the conflict continues, but observers have questioned whether those forums can provide meaningful support beyond diplomatic language.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made only his second foreign visit since joint US and Israeli strikes began in late February when he travelled to the summit in Kyrgyzstan. On its sidelines, he held bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The meetings gave Tehran an opportunity to display ties with major non-Western powers while the war remains active. The SCO declaration’s wording offered Iran a public diplomatic gain, but the question posed by the summit is whether that backing can translate into anything more than condemnation of the strikes.