Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the imposition of illegal sanctions, warning that they have devastating impacts on international relations and obstruct countries from accessing their own financial resources.
Speaking at a BRICS+ meeting in Kazan, Russia, Pezeshkian called for collective action to end sanctions, which he said hinder global cooperation on critical issues such as climate change, humanitarian aid, and environmental preservation.
Pezeshkian emphasized that the foundation of the current unipolar world and unilateralism is crumbling. He said the growing demand for coalition-building and multilateral cooperation among countries is evidence that the global community is moving away from unilateral dominance. "Efforts to create constructive and friendly relations are today's reality, and they reflect the aspirations of many international players," he said, highlighting the success of BRICS as a model of regional and international cooperation.
He further argued that the world would be a better place when multilateralism prevails over unilateralism, where the majority’s interests outweigh those of a few, and transparency replaces deception.
Pezeshkian stressed that the time has come for dialogue to replace conflict, for equity to replace discrimination, and for democracy to triumph over authoritarianism.
Pezeshkian also condemned the long-term impacts of unilateral sanctions on developing countries, saying they not only violate international law and human rights but also disrupt sustainable development processes.
He urged BRICS and its allies to establish a fair and inclusive mechanism to support multilateral trade, especially for developing nations that face significant hurdles accessing modern technologies due to political and economic barriers imposed by certain global powers.
BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Iran officially became a member of the BRICS at the beginning of 2024, five months after it announced its acceptance as a full member of the group along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.