Iran’s BRICS Membership to Strengthen Opposition to US Unilateralism: President Raisi

The Iranian and Chinese presidents stressed the need to bolster bilateral cooperation and the trend of multilateralism especially within the framework of BRICS.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS+ Summit on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties and international developments.

Iran’s membership in the BRICS group of emerging economics will strengthen the principled approaches of the group, including opposition to US unilateralism in the international arena, Raisi said at the meeting.Turning to the existing agreements inked between Iran and China, Raisi emphasized the implementation of agreements within the framework of the 25-Year Strategic Cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese president, for his part, congratulated Iran’s membership in BRICS and added that China is ready to bolster bilateral cooperation and develop cooperation with Iran in various fields.

BRICS is made up of India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa. The heads of state of the group held their 15th annual summit in Johannesburg earlier on Wednesday, agreeing on mechanisms for considering new members and calling for the use of local currencies to facilitate trade.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Thursday that the BRICS member states agreed to admit Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia as full members.