Iranians gather in Revolution Square to protest U.S. attacks on nuclear sites in Iran, on Sunday.Getty Images/Getty Images
As Israeli missiles rained down on Tehran last week, Iran pleaded for help from its fellow members in the BRICS partnership, urging the fast-growing bloc of developing-world countries to adopt a united stand against the air strikes.
But even after Iran’s Foreign Ministry suggested that an emergency BRICS meeting would be called, the group declined to act. No meeting was held, and no joint statement was issued – leaving Iran as isolated as ever.
For years, Iran has tried to cultivate support in the global south, including within BRICS, the 10-country partnership that was originally led by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Tehran accepted an invitation to join the group in 2023, while also seeking stronger diplomatic and economic relations with Africa and other regions in the developing world.
The BRICS group has portrayed itself as a counterbalance to the West, capable of resisting Western pressure tactics and fighting against sanctions on countries such as Iran. Its muted response to the Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran, however, has exposed the limits of its influence in global crises.
Brazil, current holder of the BRICS presidency and host of its annual summit next month, condemned the Israeli and U.S. air strikes as a violation of Iranian sovereignty – but it also criticized Iran for its own missile strikes on Israeli cities and an Israeli hospital.
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The Brazilian government said it “repudiates reciprocal attacks against densely populated areas, which have caused a growing number of casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospital facilities, which are specially protected by international humanitarian law.” While the statement did not explicitly cite Iran, it was a clear reference to an Iranian missile strike that struck a hospital in the Israeli town of Beersheba last week.
South Africa, another long-time member of BRICS and a traditional friend of Iran, was strangely silent after U.S. strikes on Iran this weekend. Its Foreign Ministry issued no comment. Nor did its ruling party, the African National Congress.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa eventually issued a brief statement on Sunday, but it was remarkable for its refusal to criticize Washington directly – even though Pretoria had earlier denounced Israel’s similar attacks.
The statement merely said that Mr. Ramaphosa had “noted with a great deal of anxiety the entry by the United States of America into the Israel-Iran war.” It called for dialogue, urging the countries to accept United Nations peace efforts.
The silence was strategic. South Africa has warm political relations with Iran, and its corporate sector is a major investor in the country. But its top priority this year is to placate U.S. President Donald Trump, who has slashed foreign aid and threatened to impose massive tariffs on South African goods. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have repeatedly complained about Pretoria’s support for Iran, and Mr. Ramaphosa does not want to hand them additional ammunition by overtly backing Iran on the U.S. missile attacks.
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In an interview with The Globe and Mail earlier this year in Tehran, a senior Foreign Ministry official explained Iran’s efforts to forge closer links to Africa. “We have a lot of similarities with Africa,” said the official, Akbar Khosravinezhad, the ministry’s director-general for Africa. “They like Iran because we’re not just sucking their resources, as some other countries do. It’s a win-win situation.”
Despite these Iranian efforts, Africa’s response to the Israeli and U.S. attacks this month was mixed and largely restrained. A few countries, such as Sudan and Uganda, have protested the attacks. Most others have been quiet.
Ethiopia, a BRICS member that had signed a security and intelligence agreement with Iran just last month, remained officially silent when Iran was attacked. Other key African countries, such as Rwanda and Nigeria, said little about the attacks except to urge restraint by all sides.
Somalia’s Foreign Ministry made no comment when the Pentagon fired missiles at Iran on the weekend – but it swiftly issued a harsh critique of Tehran for its missile attack on U.S. bases in Qatar on Monday. It said it “condemns and denounces, in the strongest terms, the heinous act of aggression launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the sisterly state of Qatar.”