Iran Prez Pezeshkian slams West over sanctions' impact on global welfare

BRICS must expand trade in national currencies and work towards an inclusive global economic framework as excessive dependence on existing financial and trade systems has made emerging economies vulnerable to political shocks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.

In an address at the concluding session of the two-day BRICS summit, Pezeshkian, taking a swipe at Western powers, was also critical of "unilateral sanctions", saying they are directly impacting global food security and people's welfare.

The Iranian leader's remarks came weeks after the US imposed new economic sanctions on Iran, tightening the squeeze on Tehran's finances amid ongoing military hostilities between the two sides.

The Iranian president said BRICS had evolved beyond being merely a framework for cooperation among emerging economies and had become a manifestation of growing demand for a more balanced and inclusive world in which "no centre of power has the right to determine the destiny of ...