Putin and Ebrahim Raisi hold phone call, discuss BRICS as Iran eyes joining the bloc

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the need to strengthen international cooperation in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Russia’s presidential press service confirmed that the telephone conversation between the two leaders took place on Tuesday, TASS reported. Both the leaders discussed Iran’s ambition to join the BRICS ahead of the summit that will take place in South Africa this month. 

In July, Iran assumed full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the 23rd edition of the summit, conducted virtually by New Delhi. 

"The parties discussed issues related to cooperation in international and regional affairs, particularly taking into account Iran’s full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its interest in joining the BRICS group,” stated the Kremlin’s press service. Putin and Raisi reaffirmed their determination to continue boosting ties in the energy, transport and environment protection sectors. In addition to this, they lauded the growing bilateral ties between Iran and Russia. 

Iran hopes to be part of the BRICS 

In June this year, Iran formally applied for joining BRICS, which currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In a press briefing, Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, noted that the group formulates 30% of the world’s gross production and 40% of the world’s population. Hence, Iran is eying to be part of the group which has the potential to become one of the strongest international bodies in the long run. At that time, Khatibzadeh insisted that Iran hopes that its membership would result in “added values” for both sides.

When it comes to SCO, three out of the five BRICS nations, i.e. India, China and Russia are part of the organisation. "The member states stressed the historical significance of the admission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the SCO as a full Member State," said the New Delhi Declaration issued at the end of the summit. In the virtual summit led by New Delhi, both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran on joining the SCO and stated that Tehran's membership in the group will further strengthen the body.