Iran’s SCO inclusion will bring limited security gains

Significance

SCO membership will be Tehran’s first experience of a regional defence-security organisation since it withdrew from the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) in 1979. Iran’s defence policy since 1988 has been one of ‘self-help’ and ‘deterrence’, while the country faces security issues around terrorism, religious extremism, arms and drug smuggling, and cyber threats.

Impacts

• Iran will benefit diplomatically from SCO membership as it attempts to reduce its international political isolation.
• International sanctions, particularly those imposed by the United States, will undermine Iran’s potential economic benefits from membership.
• Iran could gain access to more markets for sales of its military hardware, including unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).