BRICS Invite Six Nations To Become Members, Inc. Saudi & Iran

All BRICS leaders gathered for a special press conference in Johannesburg. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking confirms that the five national leaders have agreed to invite six nations to join the bloc, namely: Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Ramaphosa states that the BRICS membership of the new countries will become effective 1 Jan 2024.

• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: "Our diversity favours the struggle for a new world order, the relevance of the BRICS is confirmed by the interest of other countries to join."
• The inclusion of Iran in the list of invitees will gain significant attention in Western capitals. It had been speculated that invitees to the bloc would be restricted to nations with a close or at least neutral stance to the US and the West such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
• However, the inclusion of Iran could sound alarm bells for Washington that the BRICS is going to shift in a direction that sees it act as an economic and geopolitical counterweight to the G7.
• The presence of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE sees the bloc become more even heavily populated with major hydrocarbon producers, in what will be of additional concern to the White House.
• Livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxajJ7k8d7M