JOHANNESBURG (Dispatches) – BRICS leaders announced on Thursday the “historic” admission of six new countries, as the bloc seeks to reshape the Western-led global order.
BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- agreed at their annual summit to make Argentina, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates full members from January 1.
“This membership expansion is historic,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose nation is the most powerful in the group of large and populous economies.
“The expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigor to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development.”
Beijing has campaigned to rapidly expand and strengthen the BRICS as a counterweight to U.S. and Western dominance of world affairs, and the push to extend membership headlined the summit agenda in Johannesburg.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed what he called “a great moment” for his country, the second most populous in Africa.
“The benefits of Iran’s membership to BRICS will make history, and open a new chapter and a stronger step towards fairness... and lasting peace on the international stage,” said Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Egypt and the UAE also broadcast their readiness to work with the loosely defined group, which represents billions of people on four continents and a quarter of the world’s wealth.
BRICS makes decisions by consensus and agreed on the six nations after approving rules for admission during three days of bilateral talks and closed-door meetings.
Officials said months of pre-negotiations were needed to reach the breakthrough. It paves the way for future expansion of the group of big and small economies.
More than 20 countries had formally applied to join and about the same number from non-Western nations across the so-called Global South have expressed interest.
Some 50 world leaders attended the summit, underscoring what BRICS leaders say is the attractiveness of its message and growing relevance on the world stage.
BRICS has risen to prominence at a time of intense geopolitical rivalry and analysts foreshadowed that its 15th summit could be pivotal.
“Our diversity strengthens the fight for a new international order,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who supported Argentina’s membership.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, said the summit had given BRICS “a shot in the arm”.
“In reality, BRICS does have something approximating a common vision, and that is providing alternatives to the West,” he said.
“I think it’s a goal that’s gained momentum amid greatly intensifying power competition.”
BRICS leaders championed its New Development Bank as a fairer lender for emerging markets than U.S.-based institutions like the World Bank.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an overhaul of the world’s “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair global financial architecture” was necessary “but it won’t happen overnight”.
“In the absence of such reform, fragmentation is inevitable,” he told leaders in Johannesburg.
The admission of oil-producing giants Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE would boost the BRICS economic heft, with some observers says Tehran’s inclusion colors the bloc with an anti-American hue.
President Raisi says Iran’s accession will boost the country’s political clout and economy.
“Although imperialism seeks to hamper our economic growth, this

growth lies in linking with independent economies in the region that can help realize resistance economy in the country,” he told reporters in Tehran on his return from the summit.
In Johannesburg, he met with world leaders including President Xi who said China is willing to boost cooperation with Iran on BRICS and other platforms.
“China is ready to consolidate friendship and deepen mutual trust with the Iranian side and to continue to support each other on issues of mutual core interests,” the Chinese president said.
Raisi said Iran is ready to give a boost to its bilateral cooperation with China and help enhance multilateralism, stressing that Iran’s membership in BRICS would also strengthen the core approaches of the group, including opposition to the U.S. unilateralism.
Referring to the agreements already signed between Tehran and Beijing, the Iranian president stressed the need for the enforcement of a 25-year comprehensive deal between the two countries.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also held wide-ranging talks with President Raisi, during which they reviewed bilateral ties including in areas of trade and investment, energy, connectivity, counter-terrorism, and Afghanistan.
“Had a wonderful meeting with President Ebrahim Raeisi. I am glad that Iran will be joining BRICS. Discussed ways to deepen trade and cultural cooperation between India and Iran,” Modi said in a post on platform X.
The prime minister’s office said that Modi and Raisi held wide-ranging talks during which they discussed ways to boost ties in sectors like energy, connectivity, and trade.
They had spoken over the phone on Friday and discussed strengthening of bilateral and regional cooperation, including realizing the full potential of Chabahar Port.
In a separate meeting with Raeisi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva congratulated the Islamic Republic on joining the BRICS group.
He said there are many opportunities in the fields of scientific, technological and academic exchanges and culture to expand cooperation between the two countries.
The president of Brazil denounced sanctions as a “criminal weapon” against world nations that targets the people of the embargoed country.
He said the current UN structure is incapable of preventing the encroachment of the powers against the rights of other nations, which requires the current structures to be redesigned.
BRICS, President Lula said, should be able to establish a new economic logic and order in the world.
President Raisi touched on the American officials’ acknowledgement of the scandalous failure of the “maximum pressure” policy against Iran.
He said despite the cruel sanctions, Iran’s advances in science and technology have been going in leaps and bounds.