Iran Press/ Africa: The term BRIC was coined by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill in 2001 to describe the startling rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The bloc had its first summit in 2009 in Russia. South Africa joined in 2010.
The recent summit of the bloc was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023. With the leaders of 54 African nations invited, this was the biggest meeting of the heads of state and government of the Global South in recent years.
Participants in the summit agreed that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join the bloc from January 1, 2024.
As the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa noted, the BRICS Summit experienced a momentous occasion. We had on the third day, the announcement of the expansion. Despite the amount of interest from some twenty countries that applied to be part of BRICS, it was whittled down to six. What motivated the decision to keep it down to this small number and what informed the selection of these particular countries?
BRICS summit 2023; momentous occasion
ANIL SOOKLAL (AS): Expansion was very much in the public domain; there was much anticipation and expectation of what would happen. And of course, the expansion of any organization is natural. You can’t remain static and this is what was also echoed by [UN] Secretary-General Antonio Guterres when he spoke at the outreach summit. He said, the world has changed dramatically since 1945 as against the world of 2023 and we need to reflect the current realities.
Likewise, BRICS is now celebrating 15 years of summits and the last expansion took place in 2011 – 12 years ago with South Africa joining. So, we have been as we are for the past 12 years.
But over the years there has been a high level of interest from countries in the Global South wanting to become members of the BRICS family and this accelerated over the past year, since the summit last year in China when leaders took a decision that we must start discussions around expansion. They tasked sherpas to look at the guiding principles, standards, criteria, and procedures for expansion so that expansion takes place within an agreed framework and is done in a systematic way.
Yes, of the 22 countries, ultimately the leaders had intense discussion. Firstly, we at the sherpa level made recommendations to our ministers; our ministers had several rounds of discussions; They made recommendations to the leaders and the leaders spent substantial time, especially at the retreat that was held on the evening of 22 August that almost exclusively was dedicated to discuss the issue of expansion. As you would have seen, President Ramaphosa when he announced the expansion at the plenary yesterday, announced that this is the first phase of expansion, so it is not the end of expansion.
I think we need to go about expansion in a systematic and coherent manner. BRICS works by consensus… and it was felt, as a first phase let’s go in with five or six countries. And ultimately we settled for six so that it does not become an expansion that we cannot manage. More than doubling the size of the current membership will entail a lot of additional work to bring coherence among the new members and ourselves and to function as a family of equals because all of the new members is going to have equal status as the existing five.
And that is very important; it is part of the criteria. As you would have also seen in his pronouncement yesterday, President Ramaphosa also indicated that we have tasked our foreign affairs ministers to continue work to develop modalities around partnership. To see how we can also have a structured framework for the countries that are still keen to be part of the BRICS family and to embrace them. So, ministers will do that work and report at the next summit.
So, a number of countries have raised the question: Why only six?
Does their exclusion mean that they will not be part of the BRICS family?
We want to give the reassurance, that this is the first phase of expansion, it is not the end of expansion.
Iran as a major power in West Asia adds value and dimension to the BRICS family.
IP: What was the criteria used in selecting a country such as Iran for example? It does not necessarily have the same size population or economy compared to some of the other countries who expressed interest in joining BRICS. What made Iran a serious contender?
AS: Iran has a significant population, and a significant economy as well. One of the important criteria was that countries should be of course sizeable economies, have a sizeable influence in the region, be respected in the region, and also be important regional powers.
Now of course in West Asia, you cannot ignore Iran. Iran is a major power in West Asia, it is a country that has thousands of years of history and antiquity behind it, it is an ancient civilization. So on a number of factors Iran is more than qualified to become a full member and they will bring an added value and dimension to the BRICS family. So Iran qualified in a number of areas if one has to match against the criteria that we set out. That is why the five leaders were unanimous in their support for Iran and we reached consensus very easily in Iran becoming a full member.
IP: Iran is also a country that has faced tough sanctions for decades now. There have been various attempts to isolate it at various levels. USA sanctions on Iran impact SA, China, Russia, etc. also in how they interact with Iran. Yet Iran has tried to forge its own diplomatic path. How does the inclusion of Iran in BRICS play a greater role in terms of Iran’s role in global diplomacy and the rebalancing of power with the expansion of BRICS?
AS: If you look at the Johannesburg 2 declaration, you will see that we have pronounced very strongly that we do not believe in unilateral sanctions. The United Nations, specifically the Security Council is the body entrusted with dealing with the issue of sanctions.
BRICS does not recognize unilateral sanctions
AS: Unilateral sanctions undermine the purposes and principles and the very architecture of the United Nations system. And that is why even in the guiding principles, we stated that any new member must subscribe to adhering to the centrality of the United Nations including the security council and international law, and firmly reject unilateral sanctions.
Iran, UAE, and Saudi Arabia as full members will further boost confidence in the region while helping BRICS play a greater role in ensuring peace and stability
AS: That’s contained in the guiding principles. That’s the position of BRICS countries - individually as South Africa we subscribe to that - but collectively as BRICS, we don’t recognize unilateral sanctions and the new members must also subscribe to that principle, because it (unilateral sanctions) undermines the UN architecture. So, that was not a criterion at all, because it does not apply to us. We firmly reject those types of actions. So for us, Iran being sanctioned by the US, the EU, or any entity is not a factor at all in determining Iran’s qualification to be a full member. It never was, nor will it ever be.
And of course, also given the rapprochement in the region, we believe having Iran, UAE, and Saudi Arabia as full members will further boost confidence in the region, and having them as part of the BRICS family will also see BRICS playing a greater role in ensuring peace and stability, progress and development in West Asia which has been undermined by outside entities.
BRICS played a role in bringing that rapprochement – through China – and we want to collectively encourage positive developments in that region which has a direct positive impact for global security and for the global community as a whole. So, having those three Western Asian countries as part of the BRICS architecture and the BRICS family strengthens BRICS, strengthens the global south and I believe strengthens each of those countries and the region as a whole.
Iran; major player on global multilateral scene
IP: In President Raisi’s address at the summit, he noted that Iran already enjoys strong ties with each of the five members. The leaders of the summit emphasized the importance of cooperation and exchange of expertise. What does Iran bring to BRICS?
AS: Iran is an influential country in that region. If you want to progress in that region, if you want peace and stability in that region, you cannot bracket Iran out of any discussions, you cannot ignore Iran. Iran is central to it. And that is what Iran brings, it brings weightage. And of course, Iran has one of the largest reserves of energy. And that also strengthens the energy equation within BRICS together with Saudi Arabia, together with UAE, including with Brazil, and Russia. As a totality, we become a very powerful entity in terms of energy resources.
But Iran is also a very dynamic economy, the country is a major player on the global multilateral scene. We have strong relations with each other, we cooperate on multilateral issues. Iran is a member of NAM, G77 where we cooperate very closely, even in the United Nations.
There are great synergies in terms of our positions. In terms of the vision that Iran has for the world, it is in synergy with what we want to achieve in terms of a new global order that is inclusive, that is not dominated by a few global hegemons, that the day and age where a few countries dictate how this world runs is behind us.
BRICS Summit: A game-changer event
AS: The summit in SA is a very important moment in global history, in global geopolitics. Some have referred to this as a game-changer, and some have referred to this as a tectonic change in terms of global geopolitics, It firmly announces the arrival of the global south as being a major player in shaping the evolving new global architecture; that we are coordinated as the global south. We are a larger family, not just the 11 of us, but the entire Global South that converged here.
The message that came through from each leader; from Africa and the global south, was that we want to work in tandem with each other, we want to work in cooperation with each other and we will not continue accepting being marginalized and being told how this evolving order should be. We want to be the chief architects of this process.
Days of power domination, power equations is over
IP: It has been over a decade since South Africa joined and when you joined there were questions whether South Africa was the right partner. This was the biggest BRICS summit; it is being celebrated as possibly the best that was hosted thus far. Where does this place South Africa, considering the many challenges it faces on the domestic level?
AS: Of course, we are the smallest economy, we are the smallest population in terms of the current five members, but that has never been a factor. And I think the Secretary-General (of the UN) very succinctly brought this out in his speech to the (Africa) outreach session… He said:" The days of power domination and power equations in determining the way we conduct ourselves globally is over because this has not brought any good."
The United Nations was created so that every country, no matter how small or how big in terms of population size, in terms of demographics, in terms of GDP didn’t matter. Each one of us has an equal voice within the UN system, the General Assembly.
But that is no longer the case. We see that the major powers. The economic powers, the military powers, and the technological powers are the ones dominating that space and relegating the poorer countries to the margins. And we are saying that is not the world we want.
In BRICS everyone is equal
AS: So within BRICS, we have to ensure that there is equity, we have to ensure that we treat each other with respect and that everyone is equal and that we move together as we have been doing for the past 15 years, through consensus and that we respect the views of each and every one of us.
As a collective, we are much stronger, we are more assertive, we are more effective and jointly, we can bring about positive change. Because what we have shown here in South Africa is, that we have shown that the global south has risen and that we are serious about transforming this world. in working in tandem with each other, and with any other entity, global lot included, those who want to create a much better, more equitable, fair, and just world, we will work with all entities.
Iran warmly embraced and welcomed in BRICS family
And within BRICS, whether we are small or big, that’s not a criterion, because if we use that as a criterion we are going against the very principles that brought us together, that these are the very factors that marginalized us, especially the poorer countries. That is why as BRICS, it doesn’t matter if we are a smaller population or a smaller economy, we all add value to the BRICS family and we must move in tandem together.
Closing message
Congratulations to Iran, we warmly embrace and welcome Iran to the BRICS family and we are very pleased that it happened here during South Africa’s presidency.
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