Iran’s central bank governor says the country will soon join the BRICS-backed New Development Bank as Tehran looks to deepen financial ties with emerging economies and expand trade outside the U.S. dollar amid continuing sanctions and war with the United States and Israel.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Iran expects to become a member of the New Development Bank established by the BRICS group, according to the country’s central bank governor, as Tehran seeks broader access to financial channels outside the U.S.-dominated monetary system.
Central bank Gov. Abdolnaser Hemmati said Iran’s entry into the institution is approaching as he prepared to attend a meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors in India.
“The most important result of cooperation among BRICS member countries is the establishment of the New Development Bank, and our country will soon become a member of this bank,” Hemmati said, according to Iranian state media.
The New Development Bank, however, has not confirmed that Iran’s membership is imminent.
The bank’s corporate communications division said it could not verify the information regarding Iran’s prospective entry.
Iran’s push to join the lender comes as the country remains subject to broad U.S. and international sanctions and has yet to reach a peace agreement ending its current conflict with the United States and Israel.
Those pressures have increased Tehran’s incentive to establish additional trade and financing arrangements that do not depend on the dollar-based international financial system.
Iran became a BRICS member in 2024 as the organization expanded beyond its original membership. Since joining, Tehran has openly sought membership and a shareholder position in the New Development Bank.
The financial institution was created in 2015 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the original five BRICS members.
Its purpose is to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member countries and other emerging economies.
Membership has expanded since the bank’s creation and now includes countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
Uzbekistan became the New Development Bank’s 10th member on June 5.
The bank says membership is available to United Nations member states and can include both borrowing and non-borrowing countries.
Iran’s potential entry would give Tehran another institutional connection with BRICS as the group seeks to expand economic and financial cooperation among its members.
Hemmati is participating in the first meeting of BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors being hosted by India, which holds the organization’s rotating chairmanship this year.
A central focus of BRICS economic cooperation has been reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar in international transactions.
Members have promoted greater use of their own currencies in bilateral and multilateral trade, an approach that could be especially significant for countries such as Iran that face restrictions on access to conventional international financial systems.
Hemmati said Tehran believes BRICS economies can conduct more trade directly in their national currencies rather than relying on the dollar as an intermediary.
Iran is also pursuing bilateral and trilateral monetary agreements with other BRICS members, according to Hemmati.
Such arrangements could allow participating countries to settle portions of their trade in their own currencies, potentially reducing their exposure to dollar-based payment channels.
For Iran, that strategy carries particular importance because international sanctions have constrained its access to parts of the global banking system and complicated conventional cross-border transactions.
Joining the New Development Bank would represent another step in Tehran’s effort to build economic relationships with countries willing to operate outside or alongside Western-led financial institutions.
The bank’s founding reflected a broader BRICS objective of creating additional sources of development financing for emerging economies.
Unlike the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which developed under a post-World War II financial architecture heavily influenced by the United States and other Western governments, the New Development Bank was created and initially capitalized by the BRICS countries themselves.
Iran’s government has increasingly viewed the group as a vehicle for expanding trade and investment relationships as sanctions and geopolitical tensions limit its options elsewhere.
Membership in the bank would also deepen Iran’s formal role within BRICS two years after the country joined the broader organization.
For now, Hemmati’s announcement represents Tehran’s assessment of the membership process rather than confirmation from the New Development Bank itself.
The lender said it could not confirm Iran’s pending admission, leaving the timing and final status of the country’s membership unresolved even as Iranian officials publicly characterize entry as imminent.
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