BRICS BLOC leaders sharply condemned Iran’s US and Israel bombings in June and called them a “blatant violation of international law.”
However, Sunday’s joint declaration issued at the end of the summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is now in its fourth year and largely remained silent about another major war in which Russia, a founding BRICS member, is an invader. Instead, they criticized Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil.
The carefully worded declaration, released amid growing trade tensions with the US, denounced offensive economic policies without directly naming US President Donald Trump. Almost every member of BRICS, an emerging global economy bloc, is currently engaged in sensitive trade consultations with the United States, seeking to assert their position without causing further tension.
However, the BRICS statement aimed at “a barrier between unilateral and non-tariffs.” [World Trade Organization] The indirect criticism of Trump’s protectionist agenda is clear, but it is a clear criticism before the deadline for a new US tariff on Wednesday.
Trump responded to the BRICS declaration within hours on his social media platform Truth Social, in countries surrounded by what is known as “anti-American policies.”
“In countries that are in line with BRICS’ anti-American policies, an additional 10% tariff will be charged, with no exceptions to this policy,” he writes.
Which countries were part of BRICS and who took part in the summit?
The first BRICS summit was held in 2009, bringing together leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined in 2010, and then the bloc became a loud voice for the Global South.
Last year, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates joined the group, further expanding its impact, turning the bloc into ten countries.
With over 30 countries queueing for membership, there is growing interest from emerging economies to join the bloc. Argentina was planning to join, but it rescinded the application after Trump’s ally, ultra-conservative President Javier Miley took office in December 2023.
The Rio Summit was led by Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Most other member states were represented by leaders with three exceptions: Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian were absent.
XI has attended all previous BRICS summits since taking office in 2013, but Putin has avoided most international travel since March 2023 when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for his role in the Ukrainian War.
Russia and Iran were represented by the Foreign Minister and China.
This was the first summit that Indonesia attended after guiding to the block this year.
The BRICS statement welcomed Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda and Uzbekistan as new BRICS partner countries.
US Israel’s criticism is attacked by Iran
In their declaration, member states described the recent US attacks on Israel and Iran as “violation of international law” and expressed “serious concerns” about the deterioration of security situation in the Middle East.
The conflict began on June 13 when Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear and civilian sites, killing at least 935 people, including top military and scientific leaders. Iran’s health ministry reported 5,332 people were injured.
According to figures from Israeli authorities, Tehran retaliated with missile and drone strikes against Israel, killing at least 29 people and wounding hundreds more.
The United States came into effect on June 24th, but the United States supported Israeli strikes by dropping a bunkerbuster bomb on Iran’s nuclear facility on June 21st.
The BRICS statement “emphasizes the importance of maintaining nuclear safeguards, security and security, including armed conflicts to protect people and the environment from harm.”
The Gaza War and the Palestinian State
As Israel’s 21-month war with Gaza continued, Brick condemned the use of hunger as a weapon of war and refused to politicize or militarize humanitarian aid.
The bloc has threw support behind UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees banned by Israel.
Israel allowed the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US private organization, to provide food to the people of the enclave in late May during the Gaza aid blockade. The move has been widely criticized by global rights agencies, particularly as hundreds of Palestinians seeking assistance were shot and killed while approaching the GHF aid distribution site.
Brick also reaffirmed its position, Gaza and the occupied West Bank, both integral parts of the future Palestinian province, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On October 7, 2023, the Hamas attack killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel, during which Palestinian fighters also captured more than 240 people. Since then, Israel has fought a war with Gaza, killing more than 57,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom have killed women and children, destroying more than 70% of Gaza’s infrastructure. During that same time, Israel killed more than 1,000 people on the West Bank.
Opposition to unilateral sanctions
The BRICS Declaration strongly condemned the imposition of “unilateral enforcement measures” such as economic sanctions, claiming it would violate international law and harm human rights.
BRICS members Iran and Russia have been targeted by long-standing US sanctions.
After the 1979 Iranian revolution and the attack on the US embassy in Tehran, Washington imposed widespread sanctions. They rose in the 2010s as the United States tried to pressure them to negotiate nuclear deals in exchange for sanctions relief under then-President Barack Obama. But two years after the contract came into effect, Trump, who took over Obama as president, withdrew from the agreement and slapped Iran with severe sanctions. Since then, the US has imposed more sanctions on Iran, including a string of measures last week.
Once a US Cold War rival, Russia has faced a repeated wave of sanctions, particularly after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Trump’s tariffs known as “threats”
BRICS has expressed concern about his tariff regime as the global economy is in turmoil over Trump’s trade policy.
Trump set a deadline for completing a new trade agreement on Wednesday, and countries that have since not attacked the deal with Washington will face increased tariffs.
The BRICS BLOC, a major force in the global economy, is projected to surpass the 2025 global average gross domestic product growth.
According to April data from the International Monetary Fund, economies in BRICS countries will grow collectively at 3.4% compared to the global average of 2.8%.
The top ten economies in the world include wealthy groups from seven countries in three BRICS countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and Brazil, China and India.
The group warned that protectionist trade policies risk reducing global trade, disrupting supply chains, increasing economic uncertainty and undermining global development goals.
Pahalgam attacks were condemned
Two months after the Pahargam attack in India, BRICS denounced the incident in Kashmir, where Kashmir administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians, BRICS denounced the incident “in the strongest conditions.”
However, even with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, the statement did not mention Pakistan. Pakistan accused New Delhi of supporting the attackers in April.
The two countries fought a four-day war in May after India struck within Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan denied its involvement in the attack on Pahargam and called for a “reliable, transparent and independent” investigation.
A BRICS statement urged “zero tolerance” against “terrorism” and rejected “double standards” in counterterrorism efforts.
The silence of the Ukrainian war
The lengthy statement did not directly address Russian war in Ukraine, except to call for “sustainable peace.”
However, he condemned Ukrainian strikes against Russian infrastructure in May and June, citing civilian casualties and expressing his “strongest” opposition to such actions.
