Addressing a closed-door meeting of BRICS leaders in New Delhi on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the theme of the summit, “Inclusive Global Governance and Strengthening Multilateralism,” has taken on added importance amid growing global interdependence and the simultaneous return of unilateralism, pressure and the weaponization of financial and technological systems.
He said the credibility of any governance system depends on its ability to protect the rights of all countries, regardless of their size or power. If the UN Charter cannot protect nations against the unlawful use of force, or if international rules are binding on some but open to interpretation by others, genuine multilateralism cannot exist, he argued.
Pezeshkian said Iran had experienced the consequences of such double standards firsthand, referring to the US and Israeli regime’s military aggression against Iran, which he said killed innocent people and damaged vital, economic and civilian infrastructure.
The president cited the martyrdom of late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and 168 innocent children at a school in Minab on the first day of the 40-day war, as well as attack on Lamerd stadium, as examples of the threat posed to human life by unilateralism and war-making alongside the inaction of the UN and its Security Council.
He also pointed to the situation facing civilians in Gaza and Lebanon, saying it had challenged the conscience of humanity. The Iranian president stressed that international governance could not retain legitimacy if multilateral institutions are unable to protect human lives and national sovereignty against war, genocide and aggression.
“We need real reform of international mechanisms,” Pezeshkian stated.
He then outlined four principles for inclusive global governance: equal respect for national sovereignty and non-discriminatory implementation of international law; reform of global governance structures, including the Security Council and international financial institutions; turning multilateralism into practical measures such as trade in national currencies and independent payment mechanisms; and serious action against unilateral sanctions that target not only governments but also ordinary people, patients, children and countries’ development.
Pezeshkian further said sustainable security could no longer be based on security for some and insecurity for others. He called on BRICS to oppose the normalization of attacks on civilian and vital infrastructure, stressing that peaceful nuclear facilities must likewise be protected from attacks or threats of attack because any such incident could endanger international peace and security.
On Palestine, he described the issue as another test of the credibility of global governance, saying Palestinians have the right to self-determination and to live in security. He called on BRICS to be “a voice for justice” and play a more active role in ending the occupation and safeguarding the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
The Iranian president said Tehran supports three trends within BRICS: stronger political coordination among members in defense of the UN Charter and national sovereignty; expansion of independent economic and financial cooperation free from monopolistic instruments; and greater cooperation in science, technology, energy and food security, particularly for countries of the Global South.
He stressed that lasting cooperation requires justice, saying multilateralism has meaning only when all are equal before the law and global governance is legitimate only when the voices of developing countries are heard.
Pezeshkian also called for BRICS members to remain committed to the group’s founding principles and objectives, resist external pressures and illegal sanctions against members, turn areas of competition into cooperation, address administrative shortcomings, establish a permanent secretariat and strengthen coordination mechanisms so that joint decisions can be implemented with greater coherence, speed and efficiency.
He finally voiced Iran’s readiness to cooperate within BRICS to advance these goals, concluding that Tehran seeks a world in which “power does not replace law, sanctions do not replace cooperation, war does not replace dialogue, and monopoly does not replace participation.”