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Iran to host second SCO joint counterterrorism drill in December
Iran is set to host the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) second joint counterterrorism exercise in December, according to a senior official with the intergovernmental organization.
Olarbek Sharshiev, Executive Committee Director of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the SCO, announced at a press briefing on Friday that the drill, named “Sahand–Counterterrorism–2025,” is scheduled near the northwestern city of Tabriz on December 4.
He added that official invitations and detailed schedules will soon be sent to participating and observer countries.
Given that terrorist threats are often cross-border and affect multiple nations, the large-scale exercise in Iran aims to strengthen member states’ operational readiness and coordination in joint counterterrorism efforts.
This will be the second joint counterterrorism exercise among SCO member states since the organization’s founding in 1996.
The first, titled “Anti-terrorism Interaction-2024,” took place in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year and involved live drills and specialized operations, including “the eradication of terrorist groups,” according to China’s Ministry of Public Security.
“The exercise marks the first time the relevant agencies from all SCO member states have participated in a joint counter-terrorism live drill,” the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on July 23, 2024.
The SCO is a Eurasian intergovernmental organization created to promote multilateral security, economic, and political cooperation.
It was founded in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan with the primary goal of countering terrorism, extremism, and separatism. Uzbekistan later joined, and the organization was renamed the SCO.
Initially seen as a strategic counterweight to US influence in Central Asia, the SCO has gradually expanded. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
The 25th SCO Summit of Heads of State was held on August 31 in Tianjin, China, with leaders from more than 20 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, attending alongside representatives from 10 international organizations.
The SCO’s current full members include Iran, Russia, Belarus, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
RATS, a permanent SCO body, coordinates counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and intelligence-gathering activities among member states. It also supports initiatives to combat the “Three Evils”: terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism.
The organization aims to eventually establish transnational enforcement capabilities, including SCO police and military forces.
In recent years, RATS has expanded its focus to include narcoterrorism and drug smuggling, which have become major sources of funding for anti-government activities in member states.
Additionally, RATS maintains a database of individuals and organizations that support groups classified as terrorists, separatists, or extremists by SCO members.