The President stated, "The hegemonic system seeks to prevent the economy of independent countries, including Iran, from growing in relation to other independent countries in the region and the world, but the communication of BRICS members is important in the direction of commercial and economic relations with the independent member countries".
Upon returning from his trip to South Africa before noon on Friday, which was conducted in order to attend and deliver a speech at the 15th BRICS Summit, Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi described it as an important trip and said, "The importance of this trip is because BRICS is one of the important global alliances that plays an effective role in the development and promotion of economic and trade cooperation in a significant part of the world".
Pointing out that the BRICS has significant members in different parts of the world, who have a large share of the world's population, gross domestic product, and land area, the President added, "Global alliances such as BRICS and Shanghai are emerging alliances that are completely against unilateralism and with respect for the independence of the countries, they have been formed for convergence and cooperation in the direction of the progress of the nations' affairs".
Dr Raisi stated, "The issue of communication with BRICS started last year and with my participation in the virtual meeting of the bloc hosted by China and the request of Iran's membership in this bloc was raised and after the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council also participated in the meetings, the related parties followed the issue and finally, follow-ups were done through the heads of countries in this regard".
Stating that the importance of Iran in terms of geopolitical position and active role in various regional and international arenas is not hidden from anyone, the President clarified, "All these issues led to Iran's membership in the BRICS being proposed and unanimously approved by the members. Of course, it is naturally necessary to prepare and provide executive mechanisms for various parts of the bloc, including the BRICS Fund, and the colleagues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs started their actions in this field from the very first hour of approval of Iran's membership".
Pointing out that BRICS is mainly focused on commercial and economic cooperation, Dr Raisi pointed out, "The hegemonic system seeks to prevent the economy of independent countries, including Iran, from growing in relation to other independent countries in the region and the world, but the communication of BRICS members is important in the direction of commercial and economic relations with the independent member countries, and it also helps the Economy of Resistance".
Dr Raisi further mentioned that the relationship with effective international structures has strengthened the political power of the Islamic Republic of Iran and added, "Our membership in the BRICS did not happen by chance, but was a policy chosen by the government to ensure the interests of the country and the people".
The President continued by stating that the Popular Administration will never turn the country's foreign policy into a ground for party and factional disputes and emphasised, "What is important and priority for us is to guarantee and secure the interests of the country and the people, and we hope to be able to benefit from this event".
He clarified, "One of the cases that since the beginning of the administration's work was on the agenda was the issue of lifting the cruel sanctions from the country's economy, and in addition to this issue, the issue of communication with the neighbours, which has been neglected for years and remained suspended in terms of diplomatic relations, was followed up and placed