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Could turmoil in Afghanistan give Iran a chance to join the SCO?
- Iran is the only neighbour of Afghanistan not in the group and its help is needed for regional stability, analyst says
- But Beijing is still hesitant about the international sanctions on Tehran
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The turmoil in Afghanistan could improve Iran’s prospects of joining a China-backed security grouping but international sanctions on Tehran could mean continued caution from Beijing, according to observers.
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Iran has failed in its repeated efforts to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an issue that is again expected to come up for discussion at the group’s summit in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Thursday and Friday.
Afghanistan would be the main focus of the talks and SCO members could be looking to Iran to help mitigate the security risks stemming from the Taliban’s seizure of power, perhaps speeding up Tehran’s membership approval, observers said.
China is concerned that a spillover of the turbulence in Afghanistan will threaten its investment in the country and counterterrorism efforts in Xinjiang.
Wu Bingbing, from the department of Arabic language and culture at Peking University, said Iran was the only neighbour of Afghanistan not to be in the SCO and Afghanistan’s neighbours needed to reach consensus on how to deal with the situation.
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