New Delhi [India], April 13 (ANI): Ahead of the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting being hosted by India, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi has said that his country is in favour of a BRICS Declaration and does not want to give a message that the grouping is divided.

The conflict between Israel and the US on one side and Iran on the other began on February 28. There is a frosty ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

'We are in favour of having the BRICS Declaration. We want the BRICS hosted by India to be successful. We don't want to give the message that BRICS is divided. Only one neighbouring country of Iran is pushing to put condemnation of Iran for attacking its neighbours,' Gharibabadi told ANI.

'We have not attacked neighbouring countries. They handed territories to the US. Thousands of times, attacks are launched on Iran from there. We have documented each attack in 500 pages for the UN. We cannot accept that,' he added.

Due to a lack of consensus, a Chair's Summary was issued after the meeting of BRICS Deputy Foreign Ministers and Special Envoys on the Middle East and North Africa last month in New Delhi.

The Chair's Summary said that members expressed deep concern on the recent conflict in the Middle East and offered views and assessments on the matter.

The discussions covered the Palestine issue and the Gaza situation, including provision of humanitarian aid, the role of UNRWA, zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, welcoming the ceasefire in Lebanon, the unacceptability of attacks on UNIFIL, post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation in Syria, political settlement in Yemen, stability and development in Iraq, political process in Libya, and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said later that a joint statement could not be issued at the meeting as member countries were unable to reach a general consensus concerning the conflict in West Asia.

'A Chair's Summary was released, as a joint statement could not be achieved. A joint statement was not possible because a general consensus could not be reached among the members--the delegates who attended the BRICS MENA meeting--regarding the ongoing conflict in West Asia,' MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.

The BRICS grouping has not been able to arrive at a consensus on the West Asia conflict amid apparent differences that involve Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Answering another query, Gharibabadi also said India has always supported peace in West Asia and any initiative by New Delhi will be welcomed.

'We welcome any initiative, earlier Egypt, Qatar, Oman did mediation. Mediator is only facilitating, not negotiating. Pakistan came with initiative, we welcomed it. Mediators are only facilitating. India has always supported peace, they are in favor of peace, whatever role India plays and comes with any initiative, we will welcome,' he said.

Iran is a full member of the expanded BRICS grouping.

India will host the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting on May 14 and 15, 2026. The meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. BRICS Foreign Ministers and heads of delegations from member and partner countries will participate in the meeting. They will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the meeting, the foreign ministers of BRICS member countries will exchange views on global and regional issues of mutual interest.

On the second day, BRICS members and partner countries will participate in a session, themed 'BRICS@20: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability.'

This will be followed by a session on the reforms of global governance and the multilateral system.

The BRICS Foreign Ministers held their last meeting on the margins of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2025. The meeting was chaired by India in its capacity as the incoming chair for BRICS 2026. (ANI)