Pakistan will assume the presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State for 2026–27 after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the summit declaration in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

The SCO Council of Heads of State meeting is being held in the Kyrgyz capital, with Sharif leading Pakistan’s delegation to the summit.

Following his arrival in Bishkek, Sharif also held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, stressing the importance of tolerance, dialogue and diplomatic engagement in promoting peace and stability across the region.

The SCO was established in 2001 by China, Russia and four Central Asian states as a regional security forum. Over the past 25 years, the organization has expanded significantly in both membership and influence, although its objectives and practical agenda have remained relatively broad and its global profile limited.

The SCO currently has 10 member states: China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Several other countries are associated with the organization as dialogue partners.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have taken another step towards putting their new mutual defence agreement into operation, holding the first meeting of a joint committee established under the pact.

The three countries formally named the arrangement the Mecca Defence Alliance following high-level talks in Istanbul on Monday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a permanent secretariat would be established in Riyadh, with the first secretary-general expected to come from Pakistan.

The alliance was created after the three countries signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement on August 7. Under the pact, an attack on one member is to be treated as an attack on all three.

Fidan said the alliance was based on respect for national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs, while stressing that it remained open to other countries in the region.

Monday’s meeting brought together senior political and military officials from all three nations. Talks focused on military interoperability, joint exercises, defence-industry cooperation, joint production and research, and counterterrorism coordination.

However, questions remain over how the alliance would operate during an actual military crisis.

The Istanbul meeting comes as regional tensions have risen sharply, with the United States and Iran exchanging strikes on Monday after a month-long pause.

Washington said its forces struck two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rocket launchers on Iran’s Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran later claimed attacks on US military positions in Jordan and the UAE, although both countries denied the bases had been hit.

The developments present a delicate challenge for Pakistan, which maintains close security ties with Saudi Arabia while also seeking to mediate between Iran and the United States.

Field Marshal Asim Munir travelled to Tehran on August 24 for talks with senior Iranian officials as Pakistan sought to revive diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and address the continuing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts warn Pakistan’s position could become more difficult if the trilateral alliance is seen as being directed against Iran.

The three countries, however, have stressed that the agreement is defensive and not aimed at any particular state.

The alliance could eventually expand beyond its three founding members, with Pakistan and Türkiye indicating that other countries could join.

Egypt is considered one of the leading possibilities. Cairo has participated in earlier discussions with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye on regional stability, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Egyptian membership is possible. Egypt is reportedly examining the legal and constitutional implications before making a decision.

Bangladesh has also publicly expressed interest.

In the Gulf, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain have been identified as potential candidates because of their close ties with the three founding members and interest in diversifying their security partnerships.

Any expansion, however, would require agreement among Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye over the security obligations involved in admitting new members.

The Istanbul meeting marks an important first step in turning the Mecca Defence Alliance from a political agreement into a more structured regional security partnership.

Iran’s energy hub of Kharg Island is being blown to smithereens, U.S. President Donald Trump ​said on Sunday in a one-line social media post accompanied by an AI-generated video clip.

There was no other evidence that the Iranian energy hub was under ‌attack. The White House and the U.S. Defense Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours, Reuters reported.

There was no immediate response to Trump’s post on Iranian media.

“Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!! President DJT,” Trump said on social media, but gave no further details.

Reuters confirmed that an accompanying video clip showing dramatic explosions was most likely synthetically-generated, using software that detects AI-manipulated imagery.

Attacking Kharg, which handled 90% ​of Iran’s oil exports before the war launched by U.S. and Israeli attacks on February 28, would severely disrupt its energy trade and put huge pressure on its ​economy.

Iran responded to an earlier U.S. attack on rocket launchers on its island of Larak, about 660 km (410 miles) east of Kharg, with ⁠an assault on two U.S. bases in Jordan, Iranian media said.

The return to hostilities followed weeks in which the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to punish Tehran and its ​business partners with costly economic sanctions, shifting away from military options.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Reuters on Sunday new secondary sanctions were likely to be unveiled weekly in the effort to pressure ​Iran, with an initial focus on banks.

“We’re starting with the banks, and we’re telling the banks it’s not okay to have Iranian money and to aid the regime,” Bessent said in an interview.

After imposing penalties on the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt’s Banque Misr on Friday over alleged financial links to Iran, Bessent said the next step may be cutting off an institution entirely from the dollar-based financial system.

“You’re ​going to see a lot more of these every week,” Bessent told Reuters, ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 finance leaders.

FIRST KNOWN MILITARY ATTACKS IN WEEKS

In describing the first ​known U.S. military strikes since late July, a U.S. official said forces attacked two Iranian launchers on Larak Island.

The small island in the Strait of Hormuz near the strategic port of Bandar Abbas overlooks shipping ‌lanes at ⁠the mouth of the Gulf, giving it a key role in tension over Iran, maritime security and global energy supplies.

“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz,” the source added.

In retaliation, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Jordan, targeting two U.S. bases. Jordan’s armed forces had intercepted eight missiles that entered its airspace, state television said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and vowed a “response and punishment” from Tehran, according to Iranian state media.

In a statement, the U.S. ​Central Command said it took “limited, precise” action against ​minelaying forces of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that ⁠posed an “imminent threat” in the Strait of Hormuz. It gave no details.

After the U.S. strikes, Iran attacked U.S. forces station in Jordan, a Fox News reporter said on Sunday, citing a U.S. source. Nearly all incoming missiles “have been intercepted at this point,” the reporter said on ​X, flagging a lack of significant impact.

Amid threats to shipping, the number of visible commodity vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz dropped to ​five a day over the ⁠weekend, shipping data showed.

The actual number could be higher as some vessels have switched off automatic identification systems to evade attacks.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said all mines had been detonated or removed from the international waters of the strait and Iran had been warned that any vessel placing new mines would be destroyed.

While Trump has repeatedly said the Strait of Hormuz is open, Iran’s ⁠Revolutionary Guards’ navy ​had called those statements “an obvious lie”, reiterating that it remained closed to ships without Iranian permission.

The waterway carried ​nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before it was blockaded in the six-month-old Iran war.

Iran is the third largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.