US-Israel's Iran Attack: BRICS Chair India Sides With Israel and UAE. What Have BRCS Countries Said?
New Delhi: On February 28, the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
The B in BRICS, Brazil, on February 28 itself, condemned US-Israel attacks on Iranian targets and expressed grave concern over the military action. "The attacks occurred amid a negotiation process between the parties, which is the only viable path to peace, a position traditionally defended by Brazil in the region," the Brazil government said in a statement.
It called “on all parties to respect International Law and to exercise maximum restraint to prevent an escalation of hostilities and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Russia – the R – said on the same day, “the US & Israel have embarked on a perilous course, carried out airstrikes on the territory of Iran It's a deliberate, premeditated, & unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign & independent UN member state.” It said, it was “particularly reprehensible that these strikes are once again being conducted under the cover of the renewed negotiation process.”
C – China, became the one member-state, in a second statement, to specifically condemn the murder of the Supreme leader of Iran, Ayotollah Khamenei. It called it “a grave violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security. It tramples on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and basic norms in international relations. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it. We urge for an immediate stop to the military operations, no further escalation of the tense situation and joint effort to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East and the world at large.”
S – South Africa said, in a statement issued by the presidency of South Africa, that the “developments pose a serious threat to regional and international peace and security, with far-reaching humanitarian, diplomatic and economic consequences.”
The statement goes onto say that “President Ramaphosa calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to act in a manner consistent with international law, international humanitarian law and the principles of the United Nations Charter. Article 51 of the UN Charter provides for self-defence only when a state has been subjected to an armed invasion. Anticipatory self-defence is not permitted under international law and self-defence cannot be based on assumption or anticipation.”
The BRICS is a group formed by 11 countries: Brasil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Iran. Iran was among six new members admitted in 2024-25.
The current BRICS chair is India, which is chairing BRICS for the fourth time.
On March 1, India condemned Iran’s missile strikes on the United Arab Emirates. Then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging an early cessation of hostilities. New Delhi is yet to comment on the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. Modi has notably not spoken to Iran's leadership.
Modi also happened to have visited Israel just before the strikes, which had been planned "months in advance."
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