At the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on BRICS members to openly condemn the United States and Israel for what Tehran described as violations of Iran’s sovereignty and breaches of international law. Speaking at the gathering held at Bharat Mandapam, Araghchi urged the bloc to adopt ‘concrete action’ against what he said was the politicisation of global institutions by Western powers.
Araghchi accused Washington and Tel Aviv of pursuing ‘illegal expansionism and warmongering’, saying Iran had been attacked twice in less than a year on what he called ‘false claims’ that ran counter to assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency and, he added, even some US intelligence conclusions. He did not give details of the incidents but said Iran had been targeted by coercive geopolitics.
Warning that instability in West Asia damages both the region and global economic interests, Araghchi described such turmoil as a ‘lose-lose proposition for all sides, including the aggressors’. He framed Iran’s stance as part of a broader ideological contest, portraying Tehran’s resistance as defending ‘the new world that we are building together’ and casting BRICS as a symbol of an emerging multipolar order in which the Global South becomes a primary architect of the future.
Araghchi warned that this emerging order remains fragile and accused an ‘imperial power in decline’ of attempting to maintain dominance through coercion, sanctions and military pressure. He leveled strong charges at Western capitals, alleging they had enabled ‘genocide’, violated national sovereignty and engaged in ‘state piracy on the high seas’, and argued these actions persist because of a perceived sense of impunity that BRICS should collectively challenge.
The speech reflected Tehran’s effort to leverage its recent BRICS membership to deepen political solidarity with non-Western partners while under continuing military, diplomatic and economic pressure from the US and its allies. At the same time, Araghchi sought to reassure that Iran remains open to diplomacy: he said Iran is committed to peaceful engagement, while also prepared to defend itself, insisting there is ‘no military solution to anything related to Iran’ and describing the Iranian people as ‘peace-loving’.
The remarks came as India, the current BRICS chair, seeks to strike a careful diplomatic balance amid rising tensions in West Asia, stressing dialogue, de-escalation and respect for international law. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was pictured with Araghchi ahead of the session as delegations prepared for the talks.
