The Geopolitics of BRICS Energy and Iran’s Position
The Geopolitics of BRICS Energy and Iran’s Position
Authors: Akbar Valizadeh, Seyed Mohammad Houshi-Sadat
Journal: Politics Quarterly (Faslname-ye Siyasat)
Volume: 43
Issue: 2
Year: Summer 1392 (2013)
Article introduction
Using a descriptive–analytical approach, this article examines the geopolitical position of Iran’s energy resources and their role in BRICS’s energy security. Energy, as a strategic variable in the international system, has special importance, and access to energy resources has long been a key instrument of power for international actors. Iran, located at the center of the world’s strategic energy ellipse and possessing the world’s second-largest oil and gas reserves, holds a pivotal geopolitical position that can affect global energy security, and BRICS in particular.
The authors argue that Iran must have strategic partners to capitalize on this capacity, and that China and India—as important BRICS members with growing energy markets and influential positions in the global system—are especially significant. The article shows that cooperation with these countries can help Iran secure energy markets, drive economic development, and strengthen its geopolitical influence.
Historically, the study notes that Iran’s energy structure over the past century has been heavily shaped by domestic and external factors. Despite initiatives such as oil nationalization, these resources have not always strengthened state-building; in some periods they have instead invited external pressures, heightened costs, and reinforced regressive political and economic trends. Oil, rather than reducing development costs and stabilizing political structures, has at times become a channel for foreign pressure, coups, and social and economic volatility.
The article concludes that strategic use of energy resources and effective relations with BRICS members can enhance Iran’s position in global geo-economic and geopolitical equations, though achieving this requires careful planning and management of the commitments and opportunities associated with BRICS.
