Brics missing in action as war on permanent member Iran spirals

The way Brics responds to the US and Israel's war on Iran, a permanent member, will have repercussions for how the group is perceived and understood - not only by its own members, but the whole world going forward, analysts have told Middle East Eye.

And so far, the signs are far from encouraging.

With more than three days since Israel killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as more than 550 others - including at least 165 children - the bloc, touted as a leader of the Global South, is nowhere to be found.

Iran, a permanent member of the grouping of 11 countries, joined Brics in 2024, when it comprised only the core members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Several other countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, joined between 2024 and 2025.

Whereas every member of the original core - besides India - has released individual statements either condemning or raising concerns about the killing of Khamenei, the bloc itself has yet to utter a word as a collective. 

"Modi was basically in Israel, hugging Netanyahu and making it very clear that, seemingly, there's a much stronger solidarity or kinship between these two leaders, and this is going to extend officially into the respective bilateral relations, officially," Priyal Singh, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, told MEE.

Singh said that India's closeness to Israel, as well as Iran's retaliatory attacks on the UAE, in particular, has likely made it even harder for Brics to reach a place of consensus. 

Brics is currently chaired by New Delhi, which last week upgraded India-Israel ties to "a special strategic partnership" and whose statements and actions since have been interpreted as being aligned with Israel's war on Iran.  

On 1 March, India condemned Iran’s missile strikes on the UAE.

The bloc has been routinely divided and seemingly paralysed by differing agendas and a lack of alignment on global issues - from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Israel's genocide in Gaza.

But its inability to respond to an attack and attempt at the overthrow of the government of a permanent member of the bloc may just be the most damaging hit to its credibility yet. 

"This conflict will have significant repercussions on how the group is perceived and understood, not just by its members, but by the whole international community," Singh said.

'Banal hype'

Brics is group of 11 countries: Brazil; Russia; India; China; South Africa; Saudi Arabia; Egypt; the United Arab Emirates; Ethiopia; Indonesia; and Iran. 

Analysts have argued that the expansion of Brics has dented its ability to take clear and unified positions.

Other observers note that it isn't necessarily the size of Brics, but the economic policies and investments of individual states - including significant trade ties with Israel - as well as the institutional design of Brics itself.

None of the collective decisions made by Brics are binding on individual states.

'No Brics ruling class will come to Iran's aid when at the same time, their class interests are in Israel's prosperity, genocide or not'

- Patrick Bond, Centre for Social Change, University of Johannesburg

"If the Brics don't break, it will probably be because for most, their commonality is more powerful, namely corporate profiteering in Israel," Patrick Bond, director of the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg, told MEE.

Bond said Brics countries' continued commitment to economic deals with Israel is ultimately likely to "outweigh genuine solidarity with Iran, just as we have seen recently with Venezuela and probably soon in Cuba, too."

"No Brics ruling class will come to Iran's aid when at the same time, their class interests are in Israel's prosperity, genocide or not," he said.

Whereas India has yet to issue a statement on Khamenei, China has reportedly sent weapons to Iran.

On Monday, Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia economist, told an Indian news channel that the war on Iran could stop if the Brics countries stood up to American hegemony. 

"This is the only way the world can be safe. And so this is actually a responsibility of the Brics right now, which is the only standing bulwark against America's global empire," Sachs said.

But Bond referred to Sachs' comments as "banal hype".

Likewise, Singh, from the ISS in Pretoria, said there were so many geopolitical realignments occurring in the Middle East that it was unrealistic to expect Brics to easily find common ground.

"The UAE is bit of a wild card now within the grouping because of its normalisation of its relations with Israel ... and the broader strategic alignments when it comes to things like Somaliland," Singh said.

"So my feeling is that there are two emerging axes of power within the Middle East, centred around the UAE and the Saudis ... and those two axes are going to be emboldened based on a weakened Iran or a degraded regime, at the very least.

"I could be wrong, though we may get some kind of extraordinary meeting or something in which we get a statement, but I wouldn't be too confident of that," he added.

Brics nations are expected to assemble again in New Delhi in September.