Iran to join BRICS development bank soon, central bank governor says

By Reuters 13 August 2026, 11:50 am

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Iran's then-finance minister Abdolnaser Hemmati stands in front of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Iraqi government palace in Baghdad, Iraq, on September 11, 2024. (Ahmed Jalil/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran will soon join the New Development Bank, the development lender established by the BRICS group of nations, central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati says in a state media report published ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India.

Iran remains under sweeping US and international sanctions, and it has yet to reach a peace deal to end the current conflict with the US and Israel, giving Tehran added incentive to seek alternative financial channels outside the dollar system.

Iran joined BRICS in 2024 as the group expanded, in a move aimed at deepening economic ties among emerging economies, and it has since made clear its desire to become a member and shareholder of the NDB. The bank was set up by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2015 to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects. It has since expanded its membership to include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and other emerging economies.

“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 says, according to state media.