TEHRAN – The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will hold a joint counter-terrorism exercise in Iran in 2025, led by the country’s intelligence and security services, officials announced on Friday.
Olalbek Sharsiyev, head of the executive committee of South Africa’s Regional Anti-Terrorism Organization (RATS), said in a press conference that the exercise, titled “Sahand Counter-Terrorism 2025”, is scheduled to be held on December 4 near the northwestern city of Tabriz.
Mr Sharsiyev said formal invitations and a detailed schedule would soon be sent to both member and observer states.
This large-scale exercise aims to strengthen coordination and readiness among SCO member states in response to cross-border terrorist threats that often affect multiple countries simultaneously.
This is the second joint counter-terrorism exercise conducted under the framework of the SCO since its establishment in 1996. The first “Counter-Terrorism Exchange-2024” was held in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region last year. According to China’s Ministry of Public Security, the exercise included practical operational training and special missions with simulated terrorist groups.
Xinhua News Agency reported at the time that the event was the first fully joint counter-terrorism exercise involving all SCO member states.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance founded in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Initially focused on countering terrorism, extremism, and separatism, the bloc later expanded to include Uzbekistan and was officially renamed the SCO.
Since then, the group has grown into a major multilateral organization and is often seen as a strategic counterweight to Western influence in Central Asia. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.
The 25th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Tianjin, China on August 31, and was attended by leaders of more than 20 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as well as representatives of 10 international organizations.
Current full member states include China, Russia, India, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
RATS serves as the SCO’s permanent body for coordinating intelligence, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence activities among member states. Its mission includes combating what the organization calls the “three evils”: terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
The agency is also working to establish shared enforcement capabilities, including a potential SCO-wide police-military cooperation mechanism.
In recent years, RATS has expanded its focus to combat narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, which are important sources of funding for armed groups and rebel groups across the region. It also maintains a joint database of individuals and organizations designated by member states as terrorists, separatists, or extremists.