Iranian president says US, Israeli attacks show economic resilience 'unsustainable' without security

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that US and Israeli attacks on Iran demonstrated that economic resilience cannot be sustained without security, warning that strikes on economic and energy infrastructure can have consequences beyond national borders.

Addressing the 18th BRICS Plus Summit, Pezeshkian said the effects of targeting a country's economic, energy, and development infrastructure can rapidly spill across its borders and have regional and global repercussions.

He said Iranians, including women, children, and other civilians, had paid a heavy price for the attacks, while infrastructure built over decades for the country's development had been damaged.

Pezeshkian also pointed to Gaza and Lebanon, urging BRICS to play a greater role in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity and upholding the prohibition on the use of force.

On economic cooperation, the Iranian president called for expanding trade in national currencies and strengthening the New Development Bank to increase BRICS members' resilience against political and economic pressure.

He also said BRICS represents growing demand for a more balanced and inclusive global order in which no center of power has the right to "determine the fate of others."

The remarks came on the final day of the two-day 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit in New Delhi, where leaders of the bloc and partner countries met for a session on resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainability.

The expanded 11-member BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

On Saturday, the bloc adopted the New Delhi Declaration, pledging to deepen cooperation with emerging markets, developing countries, and BRICS partner nations.

Pezeshkian's remarks also come amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict, which began in February and has included attacks on Iranian military, energy, and economic infrastructure, as well as Iran's retaliatory strikes in the region.