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.



US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
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US, EU Call for Probe after Reports of Georgia Election Violations

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)

Georgia's president called for protests on Monday following a disputed parliamentary election, and the United States and the European Union urged a full investigation into reports of violations in the voting.
The results, with almost all precincts counted, were a blow for pro-Western Georgians who had cast Saturday's election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia and an opposition aiming to fast-track integration with Europe, said Reuters.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Sunday they had registered incidents of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and ballot-stuffing that could have affected the outcome, but they stopped short of saying the election was rigged.
President Salome Zourabichvili urged people to take to the streets to protest against the results of the ballot, which the electoral commission said the ruling party had won.
In an address on Sunday, she referred to the result as a "Russian special operation". She did not clarify what she meant by the term.
The ruling Georgian Dream party, of which Zourabichvili is a fierce critic, clinched nearly 54% of the vote, the commission said, as opposition parties contested the outcome and vote monitors reported significant violations.
Georgian media cited Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as saying on Monday that the opposition was attempting to topple the "constitutional order" and that his government remained committed to European integration.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States joined calls from observers for a full probe.
"Going forward, we encourage Georgia's political leaders to respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, and address deficiencies in the electoral process together," Blinken said in a statement.
Earlier, the European Union urged Georgia to swiftly and transparently investigate the alleged irregularities in the vote.
"The EU recalls that any legislation that undermines the fundamental rights and freedoms of Georgian citizens and runs counter to the values and principles upon which the EU is founded, must be repealed," the European Commission said in a joint statement with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
President Zourabichvili, a former Georgian Dream ally who won the 2018 presidential vote as an independent, urged Georgians to protest in the center of the capital Tbilisi on Monday evening, to show the world "that we do not recognize these elections".
For years, Georgia was one of the most pro-Western countries to emerge from the Soviet Union, with polls showing many Georgians disliking Russia for its support of two breakaway regions of their country.
Russia defeated Georgia in their brief war over the rebel province of South Ossetia in 2008.
The election result poses a challenge to the EU's ambition to expand by bringing in more former Soviet states.
Moldova earlier this month narrowly approved adding a clause to the constitution defining EU accession as a goal. Moldovan officials said Russia meddled in the election, a claim denied by Moscow.