TEHRAN — Abdollah Sohrabi, assistant to the Iranian foreign minister, has told Iran’s state radio that if Iran’s membership request to the BRICS secretariat is accepted, then this will mark the most important post-regional achievement of President Ebrahim Raisi in his foreign policy.

Referring to Iran's geopolitical and geostrategic position in West Asia, Sohrabi said on Saturday that Iran seeks to revive its historical assets and in this direction the government is trying to put all its campaign slogans into practice, one of the most important of which is relationship with neighbors with an economic approach.

Pointing to the active political and diplomatic achievements of the Raisi government, he said, “The visit of the president of Tajikistan to Iran after 9 years, the visit of Turkmenistan’s president to our country after 6 years, the visit of the Venezuelan leader to Tehran after 6 years, the visit of the Emir of Qatar to Tehran after 10 years, the visit of the Iranian president to Oman after 6 years and the visit of the president of Kazakhstan to Iran after 6 years show the diplomatic activity and traffic jam of the government.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the diplomat stated that the revival of the Silk Road network, now renamed Belt and Road Initiative, is possible by connecting it to the North-South corridors, clarifying that in this regard, regional agreements in the meeting with neighbors are very important in realizing this task.

Stating that all the world's economists admit the fact that the Asian continent will be the world's leading economic power in the coming years, he said, “The Islamic Republic has planned to join economic blocks and post-regional agreements for a long time.”

Stating that Iran has many capabilities in the fields of agriculture, economy, industry, and science, Sohrabi said Iran has proposed to join the BRICS by relying on its capability and talent. 

“20 years ago, in the meeting with Putin, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution spoke of the necessity of creating a gas OPEC and the BRICS group has been one of the examples of new alliances,” the diplomat outlined. 

The assistant foreign minister pointed out that Iran intends to join BRICS, which could be considered as the biggest post-regional foreign policy achievement of Raisi’s government, just like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 

“Iran is going to enter BRICS in a situation where BRICS member states possessed 26% of the global economy in 2021. These countries account for more than 40% of the world's population, and this is a sign of the great talents and capacities of this alliance,” he concluded.