to be accepted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which groups China, Russia and four of the “stans” (all but Turkmenistan) in a body that has never done very much. Iran has been rebuffed repeatedly. Last week, it got the ultimate brush-off. Kiril Barsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said SCO rules bar a country from becoming a member if it is under UN sanctions. Curious, why didn’t anyone ever say that before?