SAEDNEWS: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi proposed the establishment of a regional security assembly of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with the participation of the defense and intelligence institutions of the member states.
In an address to a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO, held in China on July 15, Araqchi said the proposed security assembly could address the common threats such as terrorism, extremism, organized crime, and cyber threats.
What follows is the full text of his speech:
In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
Your Excellency Mr. Wang Yi,
Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China,
Distinguished Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SCO Member States,
Honorable Secretary-General,
At the outset, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the People’s Republic of China for hosting this important meeting. Today, more than ever, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization stands at the forefront as a major multilateral body advancing regional and international cooperation and confronting unilateralism and emerging threats.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me to begin by drawing your attention to a profoundly alarming development in the West Asia region: the aggressive and armed assault carried out by the Israeli regime and the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the early hours of Friday, 13 June, the Israeli regime launched brutal terrorist and military attacks against my country.
Residential areas and public civilian infrastructure were deliberately targeted; several military commanders, while resting in their homes with their families, were brutally assassinated; university professors and scientists were murdered; innocent civilians, including women and children, were massacred; and our peaceful nuclear facilities, operating under IAEA safeguards, were attacked.
During these armed attacks, more than 6,850 innocent people were martyred or injured, a significant number of whom were women and children. In one of these criminal and terrorist operations, this rogue regime killed fifteen members of a single family.
It is of paramount importance that the depth of these atrocities—and the grave consequences of the continued impunity enjoyed by the Israeli regime for its occupation, apartheid, genocide, and warmongering throughout the West Asia region—be fully understood and unequivocally condemned.
Mr. Chairman,
The Israeli regime’s aggression against Iran constituted a manifest violation of Article 2, Paragraph 4 of the Charter of the United Nations and is a textbook example of an act of armed aggression. Even more concerning is the fact that this act of aggression has dealt a fatal blow to diplomacy, the rule of law, and the nuclear non-proliferation regime.
The attacks launched by the United States and Israel against peaceful nuclear facilities constituted a grave breach of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), multiple resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and United Nations Security Council Resolution 487—which explicitly condemns and prohibits attacks on nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.
No legal norm permits peaceful nuclear installations under international safeguards to be targeted on the basis of mere political speculation.
Distinguished colleagues,
The issue of insecurity in West Asia will remain unresolved as long as the lawless and rogue behavior of the Israeli regime continues to be shielded and encouraged by its sponsors.
It is deeply regrettable that over the past two years, the international community has failed to take effective action to halt the genocide of the Palestinian people or to end the occupation of neighboring Arab territories by the Israeli regime. In fact, the aggression carried out by the Israeli regime against Iran is a direct consequence of the blanket impunity it enjoys—granted principally by the United States of America and a number of certain European countries—an impunity that has emboldened this regime to commit any and all crimes in our region without fear of accountability.
Honorable Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the esteemed Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization who, in recognition of their grave responsibility in preserving international peace and security, have unequivocally condemned the acts of aggression committed against my country by two nuclear-armed militaries.
Today, it is our duty—as members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization—to speak out clearly and in unison, as a recognized voice of the Global South.
We must uphold our role as defenders of international law and multilateralism, and safeguard the fundamental principles of the United Nations, including the sovereign equality of nations and the prohibition on the use of force.
In this context, and in accordance with Decision No. 2 of the SCO Council of Heads of States dated 7 June 2012 (Section 5, Paragraph 5.2), I hereby formally request the Council of Heads of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to urgently consider the situation of aggression and adopt a decision to extend the necessary political support and other forms of relevant assistance to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, endowed with vast geopolitical, economic, and human capacities, can—and indeed must—play a central role in addressing emerging threats, particularly state terrorism, military aggression, perception warfare, and unilateral sanctions.
We are now facing a complex phenomenon: the fusion of state-sponsored terrorism, extremism, media warfare, economic sanctions, and cyber threats—all deployed as part of a broader scheme to undermine national sovereignty, overthrow the will of independent nations, and assert domination over the resources and destinies of states.
In the face of such realities, the SCO must adopt a more active, independent, and structured stance to confront these threats. The Organization must serve not only as a shield for the interests of its member states, but also as a model of responsible, balanced, and cooperative regional order.
Dear Colleagues,
We firmly believe that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is well-positioned to serve as a foundational pillar of the emerging multipolar world order and to resolutely stand against unilateralism, militarism, and attempts to undermine the sovereignty of nations. The path ahead is one of cooperation, synergy, and mutual trust.
In this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran respectfully submits the following priorities and proposals aimed at enhancing the performance and stature of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization:
1. The establishment of a permanent mechanism for monitoring, documenting, and coordinating responses to military aggression, subversive actions, state-sponsored terrorism, and violations of the national sovereignty of member states;
2. The creation of a “Center for the Study and Counteraction of Unilateral Sanctions,” mandated with formulating operational strategies to resist unlawful economic sanctions and to safeguard supply chains, banking systems, and commercial exchanges among member states;
3. The formation of a “Shanghai Regional Security Assembly” with the participation of the defense and intelligence institutions of member states, to address common threats such as terrorism, extremism, organized crime, and cyber threats;
4. The deepening of media and cultural convergence among member states as a tool to counter perception warfare and the one-sided narratives disseminated by the media arms of hegemonic powers.
Thank you for your attention.
