Iran’s permanent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2021 has raised the question of how this membership has contributed to redefining the country’s position within the emerging Asian order. This study aims to explain the process through which Iran has consolidated its perceptual–identity presence within the SCO by examining the role of institutional membership and participation in shaping the representation of Iran’s position in the Organization’s official documents. Drawing upon a theoretical framework that integrates constructivism and institutionalism, the study conceptualizes the relationship between institutional membership, organizational socialization, participation in organizational agendas, representation in official documents, and the consolidation of perceptual–identity presence. Using a directed qualitative content analysis, the study examines the SCO’s official documents issued between 2021 and 2025, including summit declarations, Council of Heads of Government documents, thematic statements, and other official texts. The findings indicate that following its permanent membership, Iran has gradually been represented in the Organization’s official discourse not as an external actor or merely an object of cooperation, but as a participating member in the SCO’s security, geo-economic, and normative agendas. In the security domain, Iran is portrayed as a contributor to collective security mechanisms addressing terrorism, extremism, and other transnational threats. In the geo-economic domain, its participation in regional connectivity initiatives, transport corridors, energy cooperation, financial and banking arrangements, and the use of national currencies has strengthened its institutional position within the Organization’s economic cooperation network.