The virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, which was hosted by India on July 4, brought the focus onto geopolitical tectonic shifts, global threats and new opportunities for Eurasian powers.
"The world is moving toward multilateralism and we find that the UN, which is the largest grouping of countries, is becoming ineffective and highly politicized by the West," Indian military veteran Ret. Major General Shashi Bhushan Asthana told Sputnik, commenting on the recent summit.
"Therefore, all over the world, the other groupings are coming up and taking a major load off the UN, and in that context, SCO has become an important forum with 40% of the global population and 20 percent of the world's GDP."
"It is an important grouping where you have China, Russia - two P5 members [P5 are five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Sputnik], India another important member, and other players of Asia. Earlier, most groupings, whether it is the United Nations which came out of the Atlantic Charter or NATO, all these platforms were Western-oriented. SCO, on the other hand, is an Asian-oriented bloc, and in an era of multilateralism, it has provided a little bit of balance," he continued.
SCO's Expansion: Iran Joins the Club, More to Come
On July 4, the SCO held its 23rd summit with the participation of the entity's eight permanent members, heads of the observer countries and the UN secretary-general. For the first time in the last six years, the organization welcomed a new member: Iran was officially admitted to the SCO. The last time the SCO expanded was in 2017, when India and Pakistan joined the Eurasian club.
The Islamic Republic signed a memorandum of commitment to obtain the status of SCO member at the September 2022 SCO meeting in Samarkand.
Iran is not the only country that has sought full-fledged membership in the organization. Belarus is reportedly due to obtain the status in 2024. In addition, multiple countries including Turkiye, Afghanistan, and Mongolia have expressed interest in joining the bloc.......more below
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Unit says Iran will consider the Israeli regime’s shelters “legitimate targets” if residential areas in the country come under attack.
In a post published on social media platform X on Tuesday, the IRGC said that any strikes on residential areas in Iran would give Iran’s armed forces the right to attack Israeli shelters in the occupied lands.
The IRGC stated that it has intelligence on the blueprints and the exact locations of these shelters.
Iran began its Operation True Promise 4 after the US and Israel launched their joint military aggression against the Islamic Republic in late February by assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and several senior Iranian officials.
In its latest wave of attacks, the IRGC said it rained down missiles on the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
Iranian armed forces have also pounded American military bases and ...
In a fresh wave of retaliatory strikes, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the Israeli regime’s “secure” intelligence facilities in Tel Aviv.
The IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it had carried out the 79th wave of its ongoing retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 against the Israeli and American targets.
Deploying powerful Kheybar Shekan, Emad, and Sejjil missiles alongside IRGC Aerospace Force kamikaze drones, the operation successfully breached the regime's multi-layered air defense systems, the statement said.
The missiles, it stated, targeted Israel’s intelligence facilities in northern and central Tel Aviv, as well as military commercial and support centers in Ramat Gan and the Negev.
The missiles also hit Israel’s southern military logistics and command headquarters in Beersheba.
The missile strikes triggered widespread panic across Israel and forced the suspension of a Knesset (parliament) session on Tuesday.
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announces staging the 78th wave of its underway retaliatory Operation True Promise 4, targeting such highly sensitive Israeli targets as Dimona, Tel Aviv, and Eilat as well as several US military bases in the region.
In a statement on Tuesday, the IRGC described the latest phase of the operation as a significant development featuring missiles raining down on enemy targets as the nation was leveling momentous support behind the Islamic Republic by attending millions-strong rallies with "clenched fists."
'A distinct record'
The latest phase, it noted, "has set a distinct record in the timeline of the war."
According to the statement, targets in the occupied port of Eilat, Dimona, a heavily fortified city that hosts the Israeli regime's notorious nuclear reactor in its vicinity, and northern Tel Aviv were struck using Emad and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems along with attack drones.
This was the second time the Corps was hitting Dimona, ...
