The Iranian speaker made the remark as he addressed the 10th Parliamentary Forum of BRICS on Thursday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
He said that one of the most important measures by BRICS – a bloc of the world’s emerging economies – is the use of national currencies to ditch the US dollar.
The measure helps reduce US pressure on emerging economies, Qalibaf added, in reference to the United States’ practice of putting financial sanctions on other countries to punish them for political purposes.
The Iranian speaker, whose country along with four more nations joined BRICS in January this year, also touched upon the bloc’s expansion as more countries have expressed their willingness to join the group that mainly seeks alternatives to the current existing world order dominated by Western policies.
The fact that more countries want to join BRICS is indicative of its importance in international interactions, he said.
Qalibaf also noted that the Islamic Republic of Iran advocates multilateralism, and for that reason, wants BRICS countries to further enhance their cooperation to reach their lofty goals including the global governance based on the principle of multilateralism.
He said that parliaments of BRICS member states can play a key role to counter unilateralism and find ways to facilitate trade.
Also on Thursday, the Iranian speaker signed the memorandum of understanding on the BRICS Parliamentary Forum’s Protocol, at the end of the first day of the meeting.
BRICS founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined it four years later. Iran became an official member of BRICS in January this year after the bloc invited the Islamic Republic and five more countries to join, during its 15th annual summit in South Africa in August 2023. Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE were other countries that officially joined the group in January 2024.
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