DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has applied for membership in a group of emerging economies known as the BRICS, an Iranian official said on Monday.
Iran’s membership in the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, “will bring added value to both countries,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said separately that Argentina had also applied to join the group. Argentine authorities were not immediately available for comment.
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who is currently in Europe, has in recent days reiterated his desire for Argentina to join the BRICS.
“While the White House was thinking of what else to exclude in the world, to ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Zaharova wrote in the Telegram news app.
Russia has long insisted on building closer ties with Asia, South America and the Middle East, but has recently stepped up efforts to overcome sanctions imposed by Europe, the United States and other countries over its invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, the United States and other Western nations pledged unwavering support for Ukraine after 28 civilians were killed in several Russian attacks, including a rocket attack on a crowded shopping mall. [L1N2YE018]
Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the Nazis. Kyiv and its allies in the West say the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.
(Report by Paris Hafezi in Dubai and Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; additional reports by Adam Jourdan in Buenos Aires; edited by Richard Pullin)
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