UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran among six nations in 'historic' BRICS expansion

BRICS leaders announced the admission of six new countries from next year as the club of large and populous emerging economies seeks to reshape the global order.

The BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- agreed at their annual summit on Thursday to make the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Ethiopia and Egypt 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 non-Western states that represents a quarter of the world's economy.

"The expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigour to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development."

In an online message, United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the BRICS announcement that it would include his nation in “this important group.”

“We look forward to a continued commitment of cooperation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world,” Sheikh Mohammed said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hailed what he called "a great moment" for his country.

"Ethiopia stands ready to cooperate with all for an inclusive and prosperous global order," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In Iran, senior presidential advisor Mohammad Jamshidi described the move as a "historic development and a strategic success" for Tehran's foreign policy.

Calls to enlarge the BRICS had dominated the agenda at its three-day summit in Johannesburg and exposed divisions among the bloc over the pace and criteria for admitting new members.

But the group, which makes decisions by consensus, had agreed on "the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process", said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Nearly two dozen countries had formally applied to join the club from across the "Global South", a broad term referring to non-Western nations.

Some 50 other heads of state and government attended the summit, underscoring what BRICS leaders say is the attractiveness of its message.

The inclusion of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE together in the same economic or political organisation would have been unthinkable in recent years amid escalating tensions.

But the UAE was first to reengage diplomatically with Iran as it emerged from the coronavirus pandemic and following missile attacks on Abu Dhabi claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced they reached a separate détente with Chinese mediation.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE also have maintained relations with Russia amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine, much to the chagrin of Washington, which long has provided security guarantees for the major oil-producing nations.

China has also sought closer relations with all three nations, particularly Iran, from which it has imported oil since the collapse of the nuclear deal.

Rising clout

US officials have played down the likelihood of BRICS emerging as a geopolitical rival, describing the bloc as a highly diverse collection of countries containing both friends and rivals.

The BRICS are a disparate mix of big and small economies, democratic and authoritarian states, and the candidates seeking membership and those admitted to the club also reflect this variety.

But despite differences, BRICS leaders expressed a common belief that the international system was dominated by Western states and institutions and was not serving the interests of developing nations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said with the admission of six new members, the bloc now represented 46 percent of the world's population and an even greater share of its economic output.

The summit underlined divisions with the West over the war in Ukraine, and the support Russia enjoys from its BRICS partners at a time of global isolation.

South Africa, China and India have not condemned Russia's offensive against Ukraine while Brazil has refused to join Western nations in sending arms to Ukraine or imposing sanctions on Moscow.