Is BRICS bloc divided over US-Israel attacks on Iran?

Since India took over as chair, the normally outspoken BRICS grouping of countries appears to be more cautious.

Nearly a week into the United States-Israel war on Iran and the BRICS bloc, a multi-country alliance that includes Tehran, has not reacted in any form to the conflict.

To analysts and political observers, that seems out of character. When the 12-day war between Israel and Iran broke out in June last year, the bloc, which Brazil then chaired, was quick to state that US-Israeli joint attacks on Iran were a “violation of international law”.

However, since the chairmanship of BRICS shifted to India in December 2025, New Delhi’s own interests appear to be overriding the alliance’s objectives, critics say, as India signals closer ties with Israel and the US.

The 11-member BRICS grouping was formed as an economic alliance in 2009 and is widely regarded as a “Global South” alternative to the exclusive Group of Seven (G7) alliance of industrialised economies.

US President Donald Trump once accused its members of being “anti-American”, although BRICS has said it does not see itself as competing with or countering any other groups.