TEHRAN – On Thursday, Iran was officially invited to join BRICS, the group of emerging economies.

The invitation was made as the BRICS leaders are meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that BRICS agreed to admit Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia as new members.

The five current members are BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - collectively account for around 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).

President Ramaphosa told the summitteers that BRICS have reached a “consensus on the first phase of this expansion process” and have invited six states to become new members from January 1, 2024.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is in South Africa to participate in the BRICS summit.

Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for political affairs, said Iran’s membership in BRICS is a “historic development” and a “strategic success” for the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy.

He congratulated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the membership.

“Felicitations to the Leader of Islamic Revolution and the great nation of Iran,” Jamshidi wrote on social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Press TV reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the BRICS enlargement will inject new impetus to the group’s cooperation mechanism.

The enlargement demonstrates BRICS determination for unity and cooperation, Xi said at the summit.

“This membership expansion is historic,” he said. “The expansion is also a new starting point for BRICS cooperation. It will bring new vigor to the BRICS cooperation mechanism and further strengthen the force for world peace and development.”

Speaking via video link at the closing news conference of the three-day summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked his South African counterpart for handling the summit and for his efforts to expand the bloc.

Iran was among dozens of countries that had sought membership in BRICS and submitted a formal application to join the economic bloc.