Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. Photo: TNA.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the country can be a major partner for the BRICS group of countries.
“Iran, with its unique geopolitical location and its remarkable economic capacities, can be an important partner for BRICS. We will not miss any opportunity to secure our national interests,” Amirabdollahian said in a Persian-language post published on his Instagram page on Sunday.
He also said the era of unilateralism is coming to an end, and that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS group of countries will play major roles in the future as a new world order is emerging.
He said he had met with his counterparts from Brazil, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, the Comoros, and Gabon on the sidelines of his two-day visit to Cape Town, South Africa, where he attended a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting and a ‘Friends of BRICS’ meeting.
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The senior diplomat highlighted that important bilateral, international and economic issues were discussed during the meetings.
He also described Friends of BRICS as friends of multilateralism. “Nowadays, all independent countries have realized that they should not rely on one political bloc in international relations,” he said.
He added, “The era of unilateralism is ending, and coalitions like the SCO and BRICS can have a significant role in future partnerships.”
The chief Iranian diplomat highlighted that the BRICS group of countries has found an important position in international affairs due to its credibility and its efforts to address the shortcomings of the international system and promote multilateralism.
“This position will be further strengthened with the accession of other regional and aligned heavyweights (to the grouping),” he added.
The SCO was founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. It is the world’s largest regional market with eight official members and three observer states.
Iran started a formal process to join the bloc in March 2020 and its membership was later approved by the Iranian government. Iran signed a memorandum of commitment for joining the SCO in mid-September 2022.
The BRICS group includes five emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which account for about half of the world’s population and 30 percent of its land area.
The significance of this group and its leading role in the world economy has caused several countries including Iran to show their tendency to join the trade and economic organization.
