Iran seeks ‘active participation’ in BRICS meeting

TABNAK: Iran will have ‘active participation’ in BRICS meetings today and “We will discuss bilateral, regional and internationals matters in mutual meetings with member states,” said Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri-Kani in Russia.

Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod is hosting the foreign ministerial meeting of the member states of the BRICS group of countries.

This is the first meeting of BRICS foreign ministers after Iran became an official member of the group, he told reporters upon his arrival at the airport.

“BRICS is the biggest international economic and trade organization that operates outside the framework of Western unilateralism,” he said.

In addition to Iran, foreign ministers from nine other BRICS member states will take part in the meeting, which will be held on June 10-11.

Cooperation of member countries within the group as well as major regional and international issues are on the agenda of the meeting.

Iran officially became a member of the BRICS at the beginning of 2024, five months after it announced its acceptance as full member into the group along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40 percent of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product.

Iran was among dozens of countries that sought membership in BRICS and had submitted a formal application to join the body.