Iran, following a virtual summit last week where Chinese President Xi Jinping joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and other BRICS leaders, announced they would like to join BRICS themselves. The move, while an obvious cheap political ploy to divert from the G7 meeting going on over the weekend underscores the so-called outcast triad of Iran, China and Russia. The three nations have been largely labeled as outcasts for various reasons by the majority of the civilized world.
The term BRIC has been utilized by brokerage marketing teams since Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill came up with it in 2001. BRIC is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Russia ranted about the Iranian application as evidence that the West, led by the United States, was failing to isolate Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine. Putin and Xi have been aggressively threatening the West and distorting facts as they have for a number of years to their own people. What was noticeable Russia said Argentina also wanted to join. Reuters reported Argentine officials could not be reached for immediate comment but President Alberto Fernandez, currently in Europe, has in recent days reiterated his desire for Argentina to join BRICS.
Iran’s membership in the BRICS group “would result in added values for both sides”, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
“While the White House was thinking about what else to turn off in the world, ban or spoil, Argentina and Iran applied to join the BRICS,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova clearly seeing no wrong in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and constant threats to the region.
China economy accounts for over 70% of the group’s collective $27.5 trillion economies. India accounts for about 13%, with Russia and Brazil each accounting for about 7%, according to IMF data. The BRICS group is well populated with more than 40% of the world’s population and about 26% of the global economy.
Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 swept US-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from power, Iran has been ostracized by the West and its economy crippled by a myriad of sanctions. It hold’s around a quarter of the Middle East’s oil reserves.
Source: Reuters, TC
From TradersCommunity Research