Iran calls for restructuring the United Nations and criticizes unilateral sanctions at BRICS meeting

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi renewed his country’s call for deep reforms to the United Nations system, arguing that its current structure no longer reflects the real balance of power in the international arena, during his participation on the second day of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting.

Araghchi said that unilateral economic sanctions have become, in his words, a tool that infringes on the fundamental rights of peoples and fall under what he described as “economic terrorism,” stressing that confronting them represents a shared priority for the bloc’s member states.

The Iranian minister called for the adoption of substantive reforms to the structure of the United Nations, rather than merely cosmetic changes, in a way that ensures a fairer distribution of influence and decision-making within the international organization.

He also stressed the need to reconsider the composition of the UN Security Council so that it reflects broader representation of the world’s various regions and continents, away from decision-making being monopolized by a limited group of countries.