BRICS Summit Overshadowed by Struggle Over Iran and Regional Tensions

The BRICS summit is now unfolding amid highly complex conditions, with the conflict over Iran casting a heavy shadow over proceedings and threatening to divert attention from the economic agenda the gathering was originally meant to address.

The current tensions reveal the depth of geopolitical divisions among member states of the bloc, which comprises major powers with divergent orientations toward regional and international crises. These disagreements are now weighing heavily on the negotiating table, at a time when the grouping seeks to strengthen its standing as an effective pole in the global economic system.

Along the margins of formal sessions, bilateral meetings and multilateral consultations are taking place, but observers point out that security and political issues have come to dominate the corridors of the summit at the expense of economic and developmental axes that have long formed the backbone of BRICS meetings.