The Islamic Republic of Iran has signed a cooperation agreement with South Africa, the current BRICS chair, in Pretoria during Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor as Iran applies for membership into the BRICS bloc.
“The Iranian foreign minister on Friday met and held talks with Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings which form the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the president of South Africa.
Ramaphosa said the BRICS summit has received special attention in the world and South Africa is interested in Iran being accepted as a member of BRICS as a friendly country of South Africa, adding Tehran has the full support of Pretoria Africa in this regard.
The president said South Africa is with the agreements reached in the joint commission meeting and is ready to implement them.
Ramaphosa also expressed hope that during the official visit of the Iranian president, several cooperation documents would be signed and that cooperation between the two countries would be put into practice.
Prior to the trip, Amir-Abdollahian said he would follow up on bilateral and international issues in his meetings with South African officials.
Coinciding with the meetings, a team comprising Iranian deputy ministers and representatives from the private sector, would hold talks with South African Foreign Ministry officials on finalizing matters related to bilateral cooperation and preparing documents for Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi’s upcoming visit, he added.
Amir-Abdollahian also noted that Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi is expected to pay two visits to South Africa, one on August 24th to attend the summit of the friends of BRICS and the other in the fall to discuss bilateral ties”. -Mehr News Agency
While the BRICS group currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and the G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union, experts expect that BRICS will contribute over half of worldwide GDP by the year 2030 on account of the proposed enlargement.
Twenty-three other countries have formally applied for BRICS membership along with Iran, including Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia.
Due primarily to the geopolitical fallout from the current Russo-Ukrainian war, the strategic significance of the BRICS alliance's ability to create a multipolar environment that allows countries such as Iran to establish their economic development outside of the bubble dominated by the West has increased by a considerable amount as the bloc looks to expand membership.