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."
