BRICS parliamentary forum influential at regional, int'l levels: Iranian speaker

TEHRAN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Tuesday that the BRICS parliamentary forum is very influential at the regional and international levels.

He made the remarks in an address to reporters before leaving Tehran for Johannesburg, South Africa, to take part in the 9th BRICS Parliamentary Forum, scheduled to take place from Wednesday to Friday, according to the ICANA news agency of the Iranian parliament.

Iran participates in the forum based on the principles of multilateralism and with the aim of promoting regional and international relations, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Qalibat as saying.

The Iranian official noted that the forum would help strengthen relations between BRICS and African countries, which gives Iran the opportunity to develop parliamentary relations with BRICS members, including South Africa, and other African states.

Qalibaf emphasized that Iran's newly-attained BRICS membership could prepare the ground for it to develop ties with regional and international states, considering the country's capacities in fields of energy, transportation, and science.

BRICS is an acronym for five major emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In August, Iran, along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, was invited to join the group.