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Putin, Raisi Discuss Tehran Joining BRICS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi during the signing ceremony of an agreement to build a railway last May (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi during the signing ceremony of an agreement to build a railway last May (Reuters)
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Putin, Raisi Discuss Tehran Joining BRICS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi during the signing ceremony of an agreement to build a railway last May (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi during the signing ceremony of an agreement to build a railway last May (Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed Iran's possible membership of the BRICS.

"The parties discussed issues related to cooperation in international and regional affairs, particularly taking into account Iran's full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its interest in joining the BRICS group," the Kremlin press service said.

In an attempt to break its international isolation, Iran launched a campaign months ago for its accession to the BRICS group.

The BRICS grouping of emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - will discuss its possible expansion at a summit in South Africa next month.

TASS news agency added that Putin and Raisi reaffirmed their support for further developing bilateral trade, transport, and logistics relations.

The two sides expressed their satisfaction with the current high level of Russian-Iranian relations.

Earlier this month, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov visited Tehran, discussing Iran's aspirations to join BRICS with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri Kani.

Ryabkov told reporters his country will support Tehran's request, but joining BRICS takes time.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited Pretoria and discussed with his South African counterpart the path of Iran's accession to the BRICS group.

Raisi will travel to Johannesburg to participate in the BRICS summit to push his country's efforts. It is still being determined whether the Russian president will participate in the summit.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.