![BRICS Expansion and the New Middle East; From Saudi Arabia to Iran [Part II]](https://al-sarira.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Flagi-gosudarstv-BRIKS-i-flag-Irana.jpg)
Iran has used the BRICS invitation to assert that the US-led world system is disintegrating despite its already turbulent ties with many Western nations.
Iranian President was cited as stating in a media talk that the country welcomed the expansion of regional and worldwide partnerships as the chance for attaining more power. “The expansion of BRICS shows that the unilateral approach is on the way to decay,” Ebrahim Raisi said.
The extension is intended to create possibilities for BRICS nations to conduct business more conveniently using non-dollar currencies, according to one of its stated goals. This change may increase the likelihood of utilizing currencies other than the US dollar, especially if it results in a network of nations where each nation’s currency is more useful than the others.
Iran has backed BRICS’s initiatives to wean itself off of the US currency. For Tehran, the American hegemony over the world financial sector has been extremely concerning. The impact of US sanctions has been tough on Iranian economy in recent years.
Therefore, the country’s admission to the group represented “a wider approach of Tehran seeking to strengthen its financial and security relations with world powers on different levels. Tehran is looking for trading partners wherever it can, perhaps to foil the Washington’s harsh economic sanctions.
Given that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are all significant suppliers of oil, their membership will have significant effects on the oil market and governance.
Having these developments, the BRICS group now has the potential to have a big impact on the price of oil globally and the financial systems used to trade it.
Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia; Restored Ties
While the MENA region has been going through a reckoning as a result of numerous nations with historically strained relations building better bilateral relationships, gaps still exist. Analysts claim that the four MENA nations’ accession has complicated the bloc’s cooperation.
The UAE reestablished diplomatic ties with Tehran during the past year, which led to improved relations between Riyadh and Tehran. Due to these changes, it is now conceivable to envision a situation in which all three nations are BRICS members.
The bloc might have considered how much energy-related goods cost and how those nations could lessen their dependence on and sensitivity to the price of oil when choosing new members.
All of the basic BRICS countries—aside from Russia—are non-energy producing nations. They must be able to maintain their financial systems, but they don’t want to become victims of sanctions’ subsequent collateral harm. As OPEC members, the three countries have long set aside their disputes. As a result, they will also be permitted to do so in the BRICS region.
Although disagreements could make decision-making more difficult, it is unclear that they will have a negative impact on how the bloc operates.
An emphasis on local concerns would be detrimental to what might thereby be a favorable solution for the Middle East. Four members of an extended BRICS organization might come from MENA in one swoop. And this will increase their leverage fundamentally.
A more powerful area would help to create a world with multiple poles. United States has begun to lose its capacity to serve as a guardian as unipolarity in the globe. Never again is it up to a single state to choose who belongs in the Community of Nations and who doesn’t.
