Since late December 2025, Iran has been rocked by nationwide unrest after a sharp economic collapse — a crisis that is exposing deep fault lines inside the BRICS grouping and raising fresh questions about the bloc’s political cohesion and moral authority. What happened in Iran - The Iranian rial plunged to roughly 1.42 million per U.S. dollar, and inflation has surged above 40 percent, according to multiple economic indicators. The currency crash and rapid price rises have severely eroded living standards for millions. - Protests and strikes, which began with shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, quickly spread across all 31 provinces. Citizens have mobilized around soaring prices, fuel-cost hikes, power shortages and the removal of subsidized exchange rates. - Authorities imposed nationwide internet shutdowns as chants calling for an end to clerical rule echoed in major population centers. Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say they are documenting violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Domestic hardening Senior Iranian officials have taken a hardline posture. Army commander-in-chief Gen. Amir Hatami warned the government would respond to what it views as hostile rhetoric, and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i vowed no leniency for those characterized as “helping the enemy.” Those statements underline a security-first response amid mounting social unrest. How BRICS is being tested Iran joined BRICS in 2024 — a move that was controversial from the outset. Reuters reported that India resisted admitting countries under UN sanctions, while Brazil and South Africa worried about alienating Western partners. The current crisis is forcing those internal debates out of the realm of theory and into immediate foreign-policy choices. - BRICS partners have largely been cautious in public. China has called for “peace and stability” and opposed external intervention, emphasizing order over public accountability. Russia stressed sovereignty and condemned Western “meddling.” India, Brazil and South Africa have urged calm but stopped short of publicly confronting the use of force against protesters. - The Atlantic Council notes Iran’s economic performance lags substantially behind other BRICS members, pointing to the country’s exceptional inflation as the worst in the bloc — an economic reality that complicates any move to present a united political front. Global reactions and diplomatic tightropes Washington has signaled it is carefully parsing private as well as public messages from Tehran: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately,” and that the U.S. has an interest in exploring those private channels. For BRICS, the crisis poses a reputational dilemma: how to reconcile support for a fellow member state — and respect for sovereignty — with growing evidence of state violence and rights abuses. Human rights documentation and reports of crackdowns create political and ethical constraints for states that tout BRICS as an alternative global order based on dignity and development. Why this matters for the bloc — and for global finance BRICS has been positioning itself as a counterweight to Western-dominated institutions and has pursued initiatives to expand its economic footprint. Iran’s economic implosion and the regime’s domestic response test that positioning in two ways: - Credibility: Silence or muted statements risk undermining the bloc’s claim to offer a morally distinct model of governance based on dignity and development. - Cohesion: The crisis highlights divergent national priorities within BRICS — balancing relations with the West, defending sovereignty, and responding to domestic political risk — and reveals limits to strategic alignment among members with very different political systems. What to watch next - The scale and duration of protests, plus any further economic measures (currency or subsidy changes) that could inflame conditions. - How BRICS members’ public and private diplomatic responses evolve — whether the bloc moves toward a coordinated stance or continues to fragment on Iran policy. - International human-rights reporting and whether documentary evidence of abuses prompts diplomatic or financial consequences from other states or institutions. For observers of global finance — including those following alternatives to the dollar — Iran’s meltdown is a reminder that economic crises can have outsized geopolitical effects. BRICS’ ability to manage member crises without fracturing will shape how seriously the group is taken as a coherent economic and political actor going forward. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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