CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Russia’s close military ally, will probably attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa from 22-24 August.
Iran has also formally applied to join BRICS, along with Cuba, Venezuela and 20 other countries. But this does not mean BRICS is becoming pro-Russian or anti-Western, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor insists.
Pandor confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Lula da Silva would attend the summit in Sandton in person.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend in person but would “actively participate” in most of the sessions virtually. He cannot attend as he is under a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Pandor said that 23 other countries had formally applied to join BRICS and many more had expressed interest in doing so.
The 23 are: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, State of Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela and Vietnam.
