SCO foreign ministers meet amid internal rifts over Iran war

Russian President Vladimir Putin (l.) and Chinese President Xi Jinping at an earlier meeting. Source: Getty Images/China Pool

In Kyrgyzstan, the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) are meeting. China, Russia, and Iran aim to expand their cooperation against the West. However, the conflict over the Strait of Hormuz holds potential for discord.

When China and Russia founded the SCO together with former Soviet states, concern arose in the West: Can this authoritarian bloc put us in a pincer movement? Yet the war in Iran and the battle for the Strait of Hormuz have caused the bloc—which includes India as its only stable democracy—to crumble in recent months.

In the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, representatives of the group are meeting this week. China's President Xi Jinping stated beforehand, in convoluted political Chinese, that the focus is on the "inclusive coexistence of different civilizations" and a "shared future for humanity."

The Chinese Communist Party uses the SCO alliance not only for foreign policy in Beijing's interest. The SCO represents an almost sacred mission to make the world a bit more Chinese—veiled in the language of multilateralism and international cooperation. However, the reality of the club of autocracies is anything but harmonious, despite the rhetoric from Beijing. This involves not only simmering tensions between India, China, and Pakistan.

The Iran War Divides the Organization

The Israeli-American Iran war has divided the organization. Officially, the SCO has spoken out for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iran. The organization's Secretary General, former Kazakh Defense Minister Nurlan Yermekbayev, attended the funeral of the "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Khamenei.

However, there has been no military support for Iran—a full SCO member since 2023—neither from Russia nor from China. Last December, Iran held its first SCO military exercises on its own soil with "Sahand-2025," hoping to highlight its own military importance to China and Russia. In the event of war, this has brought little benefit.

Diverging Interests Among Key Players

The interests of the key SCO players—China, India, Russia, and Iran—diverge significantly:

• China: The economic component dominates. Tehran and the Gulf states are important energy suppliers for China's vast export economy. About a third of China's oil imports depend on the Hormuz route. From China's perspective, the war could not end quickly enough. It is in China's interest to keep the conflict small and prevent escalation, argues Indian political scientist Jagannath Panda.

• India: India's position is more complex. The government of Narendra Modi has not condemned the American attacks due to the conflict-ridden relationship with Donald Trump. On the other hand, India watches warily as its arch-enemy Pakistan has successfully brought itself into play as a mediator. Nevertheless, the war harms the Indian economy and population.

Economic Impact on India

India lost about 27 percent of its oil imports and had to temporarily switch to more oil deliveries from Latin America—and expand the sanction-politically risky imports from its main supplier, Russia.