Iran International
The so-called “Look East” strategy has become the latest point of contention in Tehran's fractious politics, with conservatives presenting it as a shield against Western isolation and reformists warning it risks overreliance on unreliable partners.
The debate sharpened last week when President Masoud Pezeshkian took part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.
While his usual detractors in the hardline camp hailed the trip as proof of Iran’s integration into a multipolar world order, some moderate backers warned the bloc’s loose structure and rival interests limits its usefulness in times of need.
Proponents of the Look East approach portray SCO membership as a political win.
“Strengthening Iran’s presence in the SCO and BRICS disrupts the US and West’s project of isolating Iran,” hardline daily Kayhan wrote in a Sunday editorial. “The clear message is that the more pressure increases, the deeper Iran’s ties with major non-Western powers will become.”
Nour News, linked to Iran’s security establishment, stressed that the trip coincided with Europe’s activation of the snapback sanctions mechanism and argued that membership helps Tehran build a “political consensus” against Western pressure.
The summit’s final communiqué denounced sanctions on Iran as unjust and condemned Israel’s military strike on Iranian soil.
But reformist voices highlight the bloc’s limitations. Sazandegi noted the SCO is neither NATO nor the EU, offers no security guarantees and has in the past refused Iran’s entry over UN sanctions
“The example of Russia, which after Western sanctions received little practical support from the SCO, reinforces this view,” the editorial argued.
Economic expectations
Economically, Look East advocates frame the policy as an antidote to sanctions and a gateway to new markets.
Pezeshkian used the summit to call for greater use of national currencies, shared digital financial systems, and a multilateral settlement fund.
Javan, the Revolutionary Guards-linked daily, argued that such mechanisms could reduce reliance on the Western financial system.
“The SCO provides a platform to reduce dependency on the Western financial system,” the paper wrote on Sunday.
The multilateral currency fund… can accelerate Iran’s digital economy growth, while linking Chabahar port to the North–South corridor will turn Iran into a trade crossroads between China, Russia and India.”
Critics counter that these ambitions face hard limits. Key SCO members including India and Central Asian states maintain close economic ties with the West and may hesitate to risk secondary sanctions.
Security expectations
While the SCO is not a military alliance, conservatives view its security framework and symbolism as central to Look East.
Javan said Pezeshkian’s presence alongside Chinese, Russian, and Indian leaders sent a deterrent message.
“The response (to any US-Israeli attack) will not only come from Tehran but also, by other means, from the Eastern bloc,” the daily asserted.
The same outlet pointed to prospects for cyber cooperation, artificial intelligence and advanced telecoms, arguing that Russian and Chinese technologies could help Iran close its sanctions-induced tech gap and support “the smart modernization of defense and the economy.”
The government's Iran newspaper acknowledged that expectations for Eastern alliances had been overblown in some circles.
"Some inside Iran had expected the (SCO) bloc to act as a genuine security shield for its members, not merely issue a formal statement of condemnation.
"Yet such expectations rest less on institutional realities than on romanticized notions and political myth-making," it added. "Over the past two decades, labels such as the 'Eastern NATO,' an 'anti-Western hegemonic alliance,' or even a 'new Warsaw Pact' have fueled these inflated perceptions within Iran’s political discourse."
South Korea’s draft is not an initiative of its own, but a legal requirement under Resolution 2231 which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and is due to expire on October 18.
According to Resolution 2231, sanctions will automatically return unless the Council votes to keep them lifted. That is why the Council president must first table a resolution to “permanently lift” sanctions as its failure is what triggers the re-imposition.
The procedural step comes as part of the so-called “snapback” mechanism triggered by Britain, France, and Germany late last month, after they accused Tehran of violating its commitments under the deal.
The Security Council must vote by late September on whether to make sanctions relief permanent. For the resolution to pass, it would need at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members: the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China.
The adoption of the South Korean resolution is regarded as highly unlikely, as Washington and its European allies remain adamant that Tehran has failed to live up to its obligations, Reuters reported.
As no member tabled a resolution within ten days of the process being launched, it fell to South Korea, as Council president for September, to do so. Seoul’s move on Monday fulfills that requirement, though a date for the vote has not yet been set.
Britain, France, and Germany are still pressing Iran to meet three conditions before the end of the month, which could allow for a temporary delay in sanctions snapback and create space for new negotiations.
Russia and China
Moscow and Beijing have taken a different approach. Late last month, they finalized their own draft resolution calling for a six-month extension of the nuclear deal, urging all parties to return to negotiations.
The resolution of extension of sanctions is expected to be put to vote once Tehran and European powers reach an agreement.
Should Russia and China move first, their text would almost certainly face a veto from the United States, France, or Britain.
