Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia among 6 countries to join the BRICS alliance
Iran and Saudi Arabia were among six countries set to join in the BRICS economic bloc next year, the bloc announced Thursday, a move that will likely throw more scrutiny on Beijing’s political influence in the Persian Gulf.
The United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to become new members of BRICS in 2024. BRICS was set up in 2009 as a group of emerging market economies and has become one of the leading voices for more representation of the developing world and the Global South in world affairs.
Consisting up until now of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the alliance represents around 40 per cent of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s GDP, although that is set to increase with the new members, which include three of the world’s biggest oil producers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran.
Expanding the membership to BRICS — made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — is on the agenda as leaders from those countries meet in Johannesburg without President Vladimir Putin. The group is also lobbying for a bigger presence on the international stage.
Recently, questions have been raised over whether BRICS is taking an anti-West turn under the influence of China and Russia amid Beijing’s deteriorating relationship with the United States and Russia’s stand-off with the West over the war in Ukraine.
Mohammad Jamshidi, the political deputy of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, called the decision to add his country “a historic move.”
“A strategic victory for Iran’s foreign policy,” Jamshidi wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a statement that his country would co-operate and co-ordinate with the rest of the members to achieve the bloc’s aims in economic co-operation, and to “raise the voice of the Global South.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country presently chairs BRICS, made the announcement on the six new members on the final day of the bloc’s summit in the financial district of Sandton in Johannesburg.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are attending the summit and were present alongside Ramaphosa for the announcement.
“This membership expansion is historic,” Xi said. “It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and development.”
Putin looms at meeting
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to the summit after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March for the abduction of children from Ukraine. He has participated in the summit virtually, while Russia was represented at the announcement in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
While Saudi Arabia had been touted as a likely new member if the five current BRICS members reached a consensus on expansion, Iran’s inclusion had been viewed as possibly politically problematic. China and Russia were pushing for expansion, but Brazil, India and South Africa — each with strong bilateral ties with the U.S. — only gave their approval more recently.
The current members agreed on the final details of expansion after two days of talks in Johannesburg, although Ramaphosa said the idea had been worked on for over a year. The BRICS leaders began their talks in Johannesburg on Tuesday night and were locked in discussions most of the day Wednesday, thrashing out the final details. BRICS is a consensus-based organization and all members have to agree on policies.
It’s the second time that BRICS has decided to expand. The bloc was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010.
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In an online message, United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the BRICS announcement and said his nation would be joining an “important group.”
“We look forward to a continued commitment of co-operation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE inch closer
Until recently, the inclusion of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together in the same economic or political organization would have been unthinkable, as tensions escalated following the collapse of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal and a series of attacks attributed to the country since.
But as the coronavirus pandemic receded, the UAE became the first to re-engage diplomatically with Iran, following missile attacks on Abu Dhabi claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced they had reached a separate détente with Chinese mediation. China has sought closer relations with all three nations, particularly Iran, from which it has imported oil since the collapse of the nuclear deal.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE also have maintained relations with Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, much to the chagrin of Washington, which long has provided security guarantees for the major oil-producing nations.
The news was also a major boost for Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies on the continent, as its government works to re-engage with many global partners and financial institutions after a devastating two-year conflict in the country’s Tigray region ended last year.
The war caused billions of dollars of damage and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, under pressure from the U.S. and European Union, has turned to other partners like China, Russia and Gulf nations for support.
