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Pezeshkian: BRICS Has Potential to End US Unipolar World

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian during the BRICS summit, October 23, 2024 (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian during the BRICS summit, October 23, 2024 (Reuters)
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Pezeshkian: BRICS Has Potential to End US Unipolar World

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian during the BRICS summit, October 23, 2024 (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian during the BRICS summit, October 23, 2024 (Reuters)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that the BRICS summit has the potential to eclipse the US-dominated unipolar world, also calling on the group’s members to use their power to end the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.

The meeting in the central city of Kazan is the largest diplomatic forum in Russia since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Speaking shortly before he departed for Kazan to attend the BRICS summit, Pezeshkian said the BRICS group was established to create unity and cohesion and to give emerging economies more power and expand their role in world affairs to confront the American totalitarianism.

He also highlighted plans to reach significant agreements in the fields of energy, industry, trade, and tourism during the summit.

In Moscow, Pezeshkian urged on Wednesday members of the BRICS grouping to help “end the war” in Gaza and Lebanon.

“I call on all members of the influential BRICS group to use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon,” he said during a speech at the summit.

The Iranian President also described the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon against Israel as “the most cruel and painful.”

Iran formally this year joined BRICS grouping which takes its name from the initial letters of the five members who joined in 2009 -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Pezeshkian's remarks came as Iran intensified diplomatic efforts to push for ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza as well as ways to contain the conflicts.

Iran itself is braced for Israel's promised retaliatory attack after Tehran launched a barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.

Putin on Wednesday told his Iranian counterpart that he wanted to further “strengthen” ties with Tehran, which has been widely accused of sending weapons to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

Putin said the relationship between both countries is progressing positively with a genuinely friendly and constructive nature.

He then said Russian wants to enhance the positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation with Iran.

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Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
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Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)

One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the US data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.

Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."

The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters. A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April. The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models. Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.

Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.

Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.

It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial. A UN Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."

Israel rejected the UN's findings. In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.