Establishment of the "BRICS Youth Economic Union" at the initiative of Iran

The BRICS Youth Entrepreneurship Summit hosted by India was held in Indore on May 20-21, 2026.

Representatives from BRICS member countries, including India, Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Iran, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt, attended the summit. Iran played an active role in the strategic and economic discussions of the summit by sending two representatives from the Iranian Youth Diplomacy Center, Nima Rahdari and Pedram Davoudi.

Reflection of regional developments; Iran is not an actor that can be eliminated

During the summit, recent geopolitical developments, including Iran's war with the United States and Israel, were also brought to the attention of the delegates. Nima Rahdari, the representative of Iran, emphasized in part of her speech: "The world is in crisis. World powers and other countries have realized that Iran is not an actor that can be eliminated."

In another part of his speech, he stated, “History will write that two countries equipped with nuclear weapons, which were the only users of this weapon in history, attacked a country with an ancient civilization and a peace-loving people under false pretenses.” These positions were met with the attention of representatives of some of the countries present.

Iran’s Initiative; Two Practical Proposals

In the specialized meetings on economic cooperation and entrepreneurship, the Iranian delegation put forward two specific and practical proposals that were welcomed and approved by the audience.

Establishing the “BRICS Youth Economic Union”

The first proposal was to establish the “BRICS Youth Economic Union”; a structure beyond annual meetings that, with a permanent secretariat, specialized working groups, and defined joint projects, could become the institutional arm of BRICS youth economic cooperation. The union will be able to identify the economic capacities of member countries, design joint startup projects, facilitate communication between the private sector and governments, and create a coherent network of young entrepreneurs and investors.

Creating a digital infrastructure for intra-BRICS trade

Iran’s second proposal was to create an efficient digital platform for intra-BRICS trade; an infrastructure that would serve as a tool for networking, matching capacities, and facilitating economic cooperation. This platform could be launched in stages with the participation of several countries and eventually become the digital infrastructure for BRICS youth trade.

Iran’s hosting proposal; Tehran, the starting point of the BRICS Youth Economic Union

Completing these initiatives, Pedram Davoudi, another representative of the Youth Diplomacy Center, announced Iran’s readiness to host the first founding meeting of the BRICS Youth Economic Union as well as the “BRICS Young Entrepreneurs” event in Tehran.

The set of Iran's positions and proposals at this summit show that Tehran is expanding the scope of its diplomacy from classical levels to new areas such as youth diplomacy and developmental diplomacy.