BRICS Invites Saudi Arabia, 5 Other Nations to Join Anti-Western Bloc

The BRICS coalition has officially invited six countries, including Saudi Arabia, to join the bloc of developing economies.

(L to R): Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raise their arms as they pose for a group photograph, at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 23, 2023. Alet Pretorius/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

BRICS, a coalition of developing countries, has officially invited six countries to join the bloc, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced at the 15th annual summit in Johannesburg.

The group reached an agreement to invite Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to join BRICS, with membership coming into effect in January 2024.