The Iranian Foreign Minister asked the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to adopt a collective security forum to coordinate a response to aggression. The request follows the US and Israel engaging in an unprovoked war on the Islamic Republic.
Mehr News, a semi-official Iranian news outlet, reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the remarks at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Foreign Ministers on Tuesday.
The SCO should “Establish a permanent mechanism to monitor, document and coordinate responses to military aggression, acts of sabotage, state terrorism, and violations of national sovereignty of member states,” Araghchi said. “Establish a ‘Center for Studies and Counteraction against Unilateral Sanctions’ tasked with developing strategies to counter illegal economic sanctions and protect the supply chains, banking systems and trade exchanges of member states.”
The diplomat added, “Establish a ‘Shanghai Regional Security Forum’ with the participation of defense and intelligence agencies of member states to address shared threats such as terrorism, extremism, organized crimes and cyber threats.”
Araghchi is making the request following a 12-day Israeli air war on Iran. In a surprise attack on June 13, Israel disabled much of Iran’s air defenses, allowing Israeli war planes to pummel the Islamic Republic throughout the conflict. Over 1,000 people were killed, including top officials, nuclear scientists, and civilians. Additionally, thousands were injured, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Prior to requesting the SCO develop security ties, Araghchi explained that international law prevented the Israeli aggressive war. “The Israeli aggression against Iran was a clear violation of Article 2, paragraph 4, of the United Nations Charter and constituted an armed act of aggression. Even worse, this act of aggression has dealt a fatal blow to diplomacy, the rule of law, and the nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
“The attacks carried out by the United States and Israel against peaceful nuclear facilities were a flagrant violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), numerous International Atomic Energy Agency resolutions, and United Nations Security Council Resolution 487, which explicitly condemns and prohibits attacks on nuclear facilities under Agency safeguards.” He added, “No legal rule allows peaceful nuclear facilities under safeguards to be targeted for attack based solely on political speculation.”
Before Israel launched the surprise attack, Washington and Tehran engaged in several rounds of negotiations on a program that would add additional safeguards and inspections on Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
