Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, at the head of a delegation, has arrived in the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod to attend a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers, Ednews informs referring to IRNA.

The top Iranian diplomat was received by the Russian foreign ministry and local officials as well as the Iranian Ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali.

Apart from attending the BRICS meeting on June 10-11 that will focus on regional and international issues, Bagheri Kani is set to hold bilateral talks with foreign ministers of other participating countries.

Upon his arrival, Bagheri Kani told reporters that this is the first meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS countries since the Islamic Republic became one of its members.

“BRICS is the largest international economic group that with the presence of important countries is playing its role outside the framework of unilateralism of the West. The presence of the Islamic Republic in this group shows the position and importance of our country in the multilateralism system.”

He added that Iran's membership in BRICS is a lasting legacy of martyred President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

Iran officially became a member of BRICS in January this year after the Islamic Republic and five other countries were invited to join the economic bloc during its 15th annual summit in South Africa in August 2023.

The organization was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China with an acronym "BRIC". South Africa joined in 2010, making it "BRICS".

The group, bringing together the world's most important developing countries, seeks to challenge Western policies which BRICS sees as unilateral.

Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE were other countries that officially joined the group in January 2024.