Results and Messages of Sahand 2025 Exercise

TEHRAN (Defapress) - General Yadollah Javani, the Political Deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stated: "The holding of the Sahand 2025 Counter-Terrorism Exercise with the participation of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries in Iran, especially following the Iranian nation's powerful defense in the 12-day imposed war, will have highly valuable outcomes and consequences for Iran. This exercise must be analyzed as a major regional event from strategic, operational, and tactical perspectives."

To understand the exceptionally valuable effects and consequences of this joint exercise, which is being held with the participation of all 10 SCO member states, including Iran, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Pakistan, Tajikistan, India, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, the following points should be noted:

1. The combined territory of the organization's member states covers approximately one-quarter of the world's landmass, representing about 45% of the global population.

2. This exercise is being held in the Islamic Republic of Iran under the responsibility of the IRGC Ground Force.

3. Over the past 47 years, while Iran has been the greatest victim of terrorism, it has been labeled by some Western countries, including America, as a supporter of terrorism and subjected to various pressures, including unjust sanctions based on this accusation.

4. The hegemonic system led by America, through its specific definition of terrorism, attempts to label countries opposed to it as terrorist states or supporters of terrorism and pressure them. Meanwhile, the U.S. itself has been the primary leader of terrorists worldwide, creating, equipping, and supporting the most dangerous terrorist groups, such as ISIS, and employing them in line with its policies and interests.

5. While the IRGC has a brilliant record over the past decades as a pioneer and standard-bearer in the fight against terrorism at national and regional levels, particularly in combating the ISIS terrorist group under the command of the martyred Major General Qassem Soleimani, it has been placed on the list of terrorist groups or terrorism supporters by some Western countries and their followers, such as Australia.

Considering the above points, the very fact that the joint Sahand 2025 Counter-Terrorism Exercise is being held in Iran under the command of General Vali Ma’adani, the head of the Operations Deputy of the IRGC Ground Force, signifies the emergence of a semantic transformation with a knowledgeable, fair, and realistic perspective toward terrorism and terrorist actions in the world. This new epistemological perspective, which is taking shape in various domains and across the globe, will undoubtedly lay the intellectual and theoretical foundations for a new world order.

For example, before Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, based on the unreal and false perceptions created by the Western media empire, the Zionist regime was predominantly viewed in the public opinion of many nations as a democratic and ethical regime, while Palestinian fighters striving to liberate their occupied territories were labeled as terrorists. However, today, many people around the world, of various nationalities, even in Europe and America, have become aware of the historical realities. Not only have they distanced themselves from previous views, but the liberation of Palestine and the destruction of the Zionist regime have become their demand. Today, Netanyahu and other leaders of the Zionist regime are the most despised individuals among nations due to their commission of war crimes in Gaza and other West Asian countries.

Therefore, by taking a strategic view of global developments, the decline of U.S. power and prestige, the breaking of the dollar's supremacy through the formation of an anti-sanctions and anti-dollar front via the BRICS union, the awakening of nations, and the strengthening of cooperation and convergence in Asia centered on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, we must anticipate an acceleration in the shift of power from the West to the East.

The outcomes and consequences of the Sahand 2025 Counter-Terrorism Exercise should be enumerated within the framework of the aforementioned macro analysis. In this exercise, the valuable experiences of the Islamic Republic in understanding terrorism and genuinely combating terrorists will be transferred to other SCO members. A common understanding of terrorism as a set of borderless threats will be formed among the nations and governments of this important region, which encompasses 45% of the world's population. This outcome will play a role over time in the following axes, enhancing the regional position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in securing national interests, foremost among them being national security and internal security.

The importance of this matter becomes even more apparent when we consider the policies of the arrogant front aimed at destabilizing Iran's security through a series of terrorist actions or military operations. This exercise paves the way for Iran's active presence in the military-security domain of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for joint actions against terrorism.

The Sahand 2025 Exercise will further strengthen Iran's military and defense cooperation with SCO member states, including China, Russia, India, and Central Asian countries.

By enhancing a common understanding of interests and threats among SCO members, this exercise will provide grounds for strengthening political and economic ties, as well as joint cooperation and investment in energy projects and their transmission lines, including the North-South Corridor.