Weeks after his country was battered by waves of Israeli strikes and the US bombed three of its prized nuclear facilities, Iran’s foreign minister came to a gathering of regional diplomats in China this week with a simple ask.

Their group, the Beijing and Moscow-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organization, should have a way to coordinate response to military aggression and play a “central role” in addressing such threats, Abbas Araghchi said, according to Iranian state media.

Along with Iran, fellow SCO members China and Russia are key members of what lawmakers in Washington have dubbed an “axis” of authoritarian nations or a growing anti-American alignment of Iran, North Korea, China and Russia.

But Iran’s proposal didn’t seem to get the direct endorsement of the group, a regional security body whose 10 members include close partners China and Russia, but also rivals India and Pakistan.

And contained in Araghchi’s message was a public hint of Iran’s disappointment: that in its time of need last month – when Israeli and US forces struck at will at top military and technological targets – its powerful friends in Beijing and Moscow appeared to sit on the sidelines.