Who's Really Isolated? Iran Set To Join BRICS Bank, Strengthen Ties With Brazil

"As US hegemony wanes in the face of dysfunctional domestic politics, foreign policy confusion, and a “lead from behind” mentality, the world has begun to transition towards a kind of new world order both politically and economically. 

On the geopolitical front, we’ve seen a resurgent Russia take charge in Syria after the situation spiraled out of control, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and creating the worst migrant crisis in Europe’s history. 

On the economic front, the BRICS nations have embarked on a series of projects designed to supplant the US-led multinational institutions that have dominated the post-war world.

In what has become one of the bigger stories of the year, China has established its own development bank (the AIIB) and after the UK broke with Washington to support the new venture back in March, the floodgates opened with US ally after US ally jumping on the bandwagon. Although Beijing has promised it doesn’t intend to use the bank as an instrument of foreign policy or as a means of promoting yuan hegemony, the renminbi is set to play a prominent role in loans issued by the bank and there’s little question that development lending will bolster China’s attempt to establish a kind of Sino-Monroe Doctrine. Beijing has similar ambitions with the Silk Road Fund (see our full breakdown here), although part of the story there looks to revolve around an effort to provide a kind of pressure valve for the country's excess industrial capacity.

And then there is of course the BRICS bank, which officially launchedalong with a reserve currency pool back in July. The following chart does a nice job of demonstrating why the bank matters:

Much like the AIIB, the BRICS bank is in many respects a response to what the emerging world views as an abject failure on the part of existing multilateral institutions to provide representation that’s commensurate with the growing clout of influential emerging economies.

Given this, and given what we know about the extent to which the current situation in the Mid-East has served to strengthen ties between Moscow and Tehran, it should come as no surprise thatIran is now set to join the BRICS bank. Here’s RT:

Tehran intends to participate in the BRICS New Development Bank, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, citing an Iranian official.

The Iranian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Mohammad Khazaee said at a meeting of a joint Iran-Brazil economic council that the country is aiming to join the BRICS bank."

at  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-27/whos-really-isolated-iran-set-join-brics-bank-strengthen-ties-brazil