President Raisi to visit South Africa to attend BRICS summit

Tehran, The Gulf Observer: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is scheduled to make a state visit to South Africa next week to attend the summit of BRICS leaders.

The five BRICS members- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- and their allies will meet in Johannesburg on August 22-24 to discuss how to further reinforce the club of major emerging economies to better counter the Western dominance.

President Raisi will attend the meeting in response to an official invitation by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He will depart Tehran for Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Leaders from more than 70 countries have been invited to take part in the summit, and the Iranian president is expected to meet separately with several of the heads of states on the sidelines of the conference, IRNA reported.

Iran is among dozens of countries that seek membership in the BRICS and has submitted a formal application to join the body, which accounts for a quarter of the global economy

Last month, Iran officially became the ninth member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an influential regional trade and security alliance headquartered in Beijing.

Iranian officials have said the country’s full membership in the SCO and potential accession to BRICS will help promote multilateralism and counter unilateral policies of the West, including economic sanctions.