Iran Pushes for a Multipolar World at SCO Plus Summit

Araweelo News Network | Associated Online Agencies

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By, Arta Abyan

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan,  (ANN)—  September 1, 2026: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called for a stronger multilateral and multipolar international order, arguing that changes in the global balance of power should not simply replace one dominant center with another.
Speaking at the SCO Plus meeting in Bishkek, Pezeshkian emphasized three principles: effective multilateralism, sovereign equality among states, and respect for international law. He said these principles are essential if a multipolar system is to produce a fairer global order.
Tasnim
The remarks come as Iran seeks to deepen its engagement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and other non-Western multilateral institutions. Tehran has increasingly presented the SCO and BRICS as platforms through which countries can resist what it describes as unilateral pressure and strengthen political, economic and financial cooperation.
Tasnim News
Iran’s Three Strategic Priorities
Pezeshkian’s message at the summit reflects a broader Iranian strategy:
Reduce unilateral dominance in international affairs.
Strengthen sovereignty and non-interference among states.
Expand economic and financial cooperation outside traditional Western-led mechanisms.
Iran has also proposed initiatives within the SCO focused on banking and financial cooperation, trade and investment, and energy security.

Tasnim News
Iran–Russia Alignment
The message was reinforced by Pezeshkian’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit. Pezeshkian said Iran supports efforts to establish a multilateral system and indicated that Tehran and Moscow can cooperate in confronting U.S. unilateralism.
Tasnim News
The timing is particularly significant because Iran and the United States remain locked in a serious confrontation. Pezeshkian has simultaneously signaled that Tehran remains open to diplomacy, saying Iran would return to the June Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding if Washington also returns to its commitments.
Reuters
What It Means Geopolitically
Iran’s position at SCO Plus is therefore more than a diplomatic statement. It reflects the wider transformation of international politics from a predominantly U.S.-led system toward a more contested environment involving China, Russia, Iran, India and other emerging powers.
However, multipolarity does not automatically mean a more peaceful or equitable world. Pezeshkian’s warning—that one center of power should not simply be replaced by another—is particularly important. A genuinely multipolar system would require institutions capable of balancing competing powers rather than merely creating new rival blocs.
For Iran, the SCO provides an important diplomatic platform at a moment when Tehran is attempting to withstand U.S. pressure while expanding relations with Russia, China and other Asian states.
Bottom line: Tehran is using the SCO Plus summit to advance a vision of a world in which power is distributed among multiple states and regional groupings. The real test, however, will be whether this emerging multipolarity produces stronger international institutions and diplomacy—or simply a new competition between rival power centers.
Source: Tasnim News Agency — Iran Urges Multilateralism, Multipolar World at SCO Plus⁠