Saudi Arabia, Iran and UAE: 5 Countries Join BRICS | Details Here

Cape Town – South Africa on Wednesday confirmed that five of the six nations invited to join the BRICS have formally confirmed their participation in the group. South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor confirmed that five of the six nations have accepted the invitation, Middle East Monitor reported. These nations were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt. The confirmation from these five nations came weeks after Argentina formally announced that it will not join BRICS which is one of the most prominent bloc of developing economies. 

"With respect to the BRICS confirmations, five out of the six have confirmed. That is Saudi Arabia, UAE, Ethiopia, Iran ... and Egypt," Pandor told a news conference on Wednesday. “Argentina has written to indicate that they will not act on this successful application by the previous administration to become full members of BRICS, and we accept their decision,” the South African diplomat furthered. The five countries along with Argentina were invited to join the bloc during a summit in August last year. In a summit in Johannesburg, member nations i.e. Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa maintained that the addition would contribute to the reshuffling of the world order. 

Why did Argentina pull out?

In December last year, Argentina formally that it would not join the BRICS bloc. The decision was confirmed by Argentina's new far-right populist president, Javier Milei. In a letter addressing the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with all leaders of the alliance, Milei noted that currently it is not a “right moment” for Argentina to join as a full member, The Guardian reported. While the letter was dated December 22, it was released by the Argentinian government on December 29, which was the last working day for the government in 2023.

The Latin American nation was among six countries which was invited to join the bloc as a permanent member, back in August. The growing international bloc was expected to become an 11-nation group on 1 January 2024. The move comes as Argentina struggles with a grave economic crisis. Right before Milei was elected as the president, the populist leader pledged to “dollarize” the country's economy. However, BRICS has time and again expressed their intention to de-dollarize International trade.