The Current Significance of BRICS for Iran’s Foreign Policy

For Iran, BRICS has become a platform for geopolitical dialogue and de-escalation, for broadening scientific and cultural ties, and for economic diplomacy. Tehran is pushing for de-dollarization, the New Development Bank, and reform of international institutions, aiming to carve out a greater geoeconomic role for itself.

Politics and Geopolitics

At the political level, the BRICS summit held in India in September 2026 provided Iran with an opportunity to present its interpretation of recent regional developments, in particular and especially Tehran’s official vision of the ongoing US and Israeli military campaign against Iran. Thus, Iranian President M. Pezeshkian, addressing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel’s policies in the region more broadly, noted that BRICS must become a “voice of justice” for Palestine and play an effective role in halting aggression against the Palestinian people by Israel, as well as advocate for the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. Regarding the US-Israeli war against Iran and the status of the Strait of Hormuz, M. Pezeshkian, in an exclusive interview with India Today, emphasized that BRICS as a venue and platform “allows Iran to open up a closed route” (through the Strait of Hormuz — ed.), which does matter because it is exactly maritime routes which make it possible for Teheran to improve trade and interaction with neighbors.

However, the most important thesis was voiced at the bilateral meeting between Masoud Pezeshkian and one of those very “neighbors,” UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the summit. The Iranian president emphasized that Iran has no “problems with the UAE and other Persian Gulf states” (whom he called Tehran’s “brothers”); the “problem” lies solely with the American bases located on their territories and used for attacks against Iran. Moreover, the joint declaration issued at the conclusion of the XVIII summit, signed by all member states, including the UAE, contains a call for “maximum restraint” in conducting the conflict in the Middle East and for consolidating efforts to combat attacks on civilian and peaceful nuclear infrastructure.

This meeting between representatives of Iran and the UAE, who found themselves “on opposite sides of the barricades” within the conflict, became the first official contact since the outset of the........

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