TEHRAN- Iran is consulting fellow BRICS members to remove obstacles and facilitate its accession to the New Development Bank (NDB), Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, as Tehran seeks greater access to multilateral financing and alternative financial channels through the emerging-economy bloc.

Speaking at a meeting with his counterparts at his residence in New Delhi on Saturday, Araghchi said Iran was holding consultations with BRICS members to advance its bid to join the Development Bank.

“There are some obstacles created by certain countries,” Araghchi said, according to remarks reported from the meeting, adding that consultations were under way to resolve the outstanding issues and facilitate Iran’s membership process.

Iran’s effort to join the NDB comes as Tehran places increasing emphasis on BRICS as a platform for expanding trade, investment and financial cooperation outside traditional Western-dominated institutions.

Araghchi also highlighted the significance of the BRICS leaders’ summit and the economic discussions taking place alongside it. He said the BRICS Business Council had been established on Friday and noted speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s remarks on expanding the use of national and local currencies in trade among BRICS members had also attracted significant attention, Araghchi said.

Araghchi is in New Delhi alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh for the BRICS leaders’ summit and related meetings.

The push for greater use of national currencies has become an increasingly important element of Iran’s economic diplomacy as the country seeks to reduce its exposure to financial restrictions and payment channels vulnerable to sanctions.

What is the new development bank?

The New Development Bank is a multilateral development bank established by the five original BRICS members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — in 2015. Its mandate is to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable-development projects in emerging markets and developing countries, complementing existing multilateral and regional development institutions.

The NDB is headquartered in Shanghai and has expanded beyond its five founding shareholders. Its current members include Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Algeria and Uzbekistan, alongside the five founding countries. Uzbekistan became the bank’s 10th member in June 2026 and the first Central Asian country to join the institution.

The bank finances projects in areas including transport, clean energy, water and sanitation, digital infrastructure, housing and other forms of social and economic infrastructure. Its stated aim is to bridge financing gaps in emerging economies while supporting sustainable economic development.

The NDB has also sought to diversify its funding across currencies and financial markets. It currently carries international credit ratings of AA+ from S&P, AA from Fitch and AAA from JCR, according to the bank.

For Iran, membership could potentially provide access to another source of development financing while creating opportunities to participate more closely in BRICS financial mechanisms. It would also fit Tehran’s broader push to expand economic ties with non-Western partners and develop alternatives to financial channels affected by US and European sanctions.

A growing economic bloc

BRICS has evolved from the original grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, and China into a broader Global South forum. South Africa joined in 2011, while Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates joined in 2024. Indonesia formally became a full member in January 2025, bringing the number of BRICS members to 11.

The group operates as a political and diplomatic coordination forum rather than a conventional international organization with a constitutive treaty, its own budget, or a permanent secretariat. Decisions among the full members are based on consensus.

The bloc’s economic weight has grown substantially. BRICS countries account for around half of the world’s population and about 39% of global GDP, according to BRICS sources.

Its expanding economic footprint, combined with its concentration of major energy producers, manufacturers, commodity exporters and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, has made BRICS an increasingly important platform for discussions on trade, investment, development finance and the international monetary system.

For Iran, securing a place in the NDB would therefore represent more than access to another development lender. It would deepen the country’s institutional engagement with the financial architecture emerging around BRICS at a time when Tehran is seeking to diversify its sources of capital, expand trade in national currencies and reduce the vulnerability of its external economic relations to Western financial restrictions.