Dilma Rousseff made the remarks in a meeting with the Iranian deputy foreign minister for economic affairs Mehdi Safari on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS summit in South Africa.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed the process of joining Iran to the NDB.

Referring to the talks on Iran joining NDB in 2017, Safari expressed Iran’s readiness to speed up the negotiations.

Rousseff, for her part, congratulated Iran on gaining BRICS membership, saying that the presence of Iran will contribute to developing NDB’s international position.

Addressing the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the member states agreed to admit Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as new members from January 1, 2024.

BRICS has gained a special place in Iran’s foreign policy due to its increasing importance in the international political economy and geopolitical developments.

Although US financial sanctions make it difficult for Iran to access the resources of the NDB and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), another key BRICS institution, the bloc has adopted various methods under its de-dollarization scheme to provide loans and services to members, which can reduce the impact of sanctions.

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