Iranian President Pezeshkian slams West over sanctions' impact on food security, global welfare

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday called on BRICS nations to expand trade in national currencies and strengthen alternative financial mechanisms, arguing that excessive dependence on existing global financial and trade systems had left emerging economies vulnerable to political shocks.

Addressing the concluding session of the two-day BRICS Summit, Pezeshkian also criticised unilateral sanctions, saying such measures directly affected food security and public welfare. His remarks came weeks after the United States imposed fresh economic sanctions on Iran amid continuing military hostilities between Washington and Tehran.

Pezeshkian said BRICS had evolved beyond a platform for cooperation among emerging economies and increasingly represented the demand for a more balanced global order in which no single centre of power could determine the destiny of other nations.

Push for alternative financial architecture

Focusing on economic resilience, Pezeshkian said overdependence on a limited number of financial and trade systems could expose economies to geopolitical disruptions.

He advocated greater use of national currencies in trade among BRICS members and called for strengthening the New Development Bank to support investment, development and economic resilience across the grouping.

The Iranian leader said the challenge before the international community was not merely to manage existing crises but to create institutions capable of protecting countries against future disruptions while ensuring a fairer distribution of economic opportunities.

He argued that BRICS should translate its principles of resilience, cooperation and sustainability into concrete measures and play a larger role in shaping a more inclusive international economic framework.

Sanctions, conflicts come under attack

Pezeshkian strongly criticised unilateral sanctions, arguing that their impact extended beyond governments and directly affected ordinary people, including through pressures on food security and living standards.

He also linked economic resilience with security, referring to the military confrontation involving Iran, the United States and Israel. Attacks on economic, energy and development infrastructure, he said, could generate consequences far beyond national borders and destabilise entire regions.

Pezeshkian said Iranian civilians had been killed and infrastructure developed over decades damaged during the conflict. He called on the international community to protect civilians and prevent attacks on civilian infrastructure from becoming normalised.

Turning to Gaza and Lebanon, he said people in the region continued to bear the consequences of prolonged conflict and called for BRICS to play a stronger role in defending national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the principle against the use of force.

Iran offers energy, transit links

Pezeshkian said no country could tackle contemporary global challenges on its own and argued that the economic and strategic capacities of the Global South should increasingly be transformed into shared capabilities.

Highlighting Iran's geographical position as well as its energy and transit potential, he said Tehran could contribute to expanding trade and energy corridors connecting BRICS economies.

Iran occupies an important position along emerging connectivity routes linking Central Asia, the Caucasus, West Asia and the Indian Ocean, giving Tehran a potential role in efforts by BRICS countries to diversify transport and supply networks.

The Iranian president also cautioned that economic development could not be considered sustainable if it widened inequality or transferred present-day costs to future generations.

He highlighted the environmental consequences of warfare, arguing that damage to energy and industrial infrastructure could affect natural resources and ecosystems in addition to causing economic losses.

AI must empower nations

Pezeshkian identified knowledge, innovation and emerging technologies as another major area for BRICS cooperation. Artificial intelligence, he said, should be developed as a tool to empower countries rather than becoming another instrument for domination.

He reaffirmed Iran's willingness to contribute its economic, technological, energy and geographical capacities to deeper cooperation within the grouping.

Thanking India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian people for hosting the summit, Pezeshkian said growing global interdependence made collective action increasingly important.

He said resilience depended on sustained cooperation, cooperation required justice, and lasting development could not be achieved without peace and security.

Pezeshkian urged BRICS to turn these principles into practical initiatives, arguing that creating a future in which economic growth, security and development were accessible to all countries was a shared responsibility towards coming generations.