Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia now form a strategic BRICS triangle in the Persian Gulf, combining Iran’s geography and industry, the UAE’s logistics and finance hub role, and Saudi Arabia’s energy and investments.
The latest phase of BRICS expansion has quietly created one of the most strategic triangles in the global economy: Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia around the Persian Gulf. For the first time, three of the most important energy and logistics powers in West Asia are either inside BRICS or formally linked to it, and that has implications that go far beyond diplomacy or symbolism. It changes how energy is priced, how capital moves, and how the balance between East and West is negotiated.
Each side of this triangle brings a different kind of strength.
Iran sits at the crossroads of West Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, controlling key land routes and one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints. It has deep industrial capacity in energy, petrochemicals, metals and engineering, and a long tradition of trading across Asia, Europe and Africa. Within BRICS, Iran is not simply “another producer” but a connector: it links the northern land corridors (Russia, Central Asia, China) with the warm waters of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and it has the scale to host serious industrial and transit projects.
The UAE is already a global logistics and financial hub. Its ports, airlines and free zones make it a natural BRICS gateway for goods and capital flowing between Asia, Africa and Europe. By joining BRICS, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are effectively placing one foot in the emerging non-Western architecture (BRICS Pay, local-currency settlements, New Development Bank) while keeping the other firmly in Western-aligned finance.
Saudi Arabia adds another dimension. As one of the world’s largest oil exporters and the custodian of important Islamic and Arab institutions, Riyadh’s engagement with BRICS gives the grouping greater political and energy weight. Even as Saudi Arabia maintains close relations with the United States and Europe, its growing ties with China, India and Russia mean it is increasingly active on both sides of the global power equation.
What could this triangle mean in practice?
First, in energy, the three together have the potential to shape long-term arrangements in oil, gas and petrochemicals in ways that were not possible when each negotiated mostly alone.
Second, in trade and finance, the presence of Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in or around BRICS opens the door to multiple settlement options.
Third, in regional connectivity, the triangle offers a realistic way to integrate sea and land corridors.
BRICS, by itself, is not a magic shortcut—but it is a structured environment where members can deal with partners on relatively equal terms, with long-term planning in mind.
In conclusion T he emerging triangle of Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia is less about dependence and more about options. It gives all three—and the wider BRICS family—more ways to trade, invest and coordinate, without forcing anyone into a single geopolitical camp. If managed wisely, it can turn the Persian Gulf into a platform for multipolar cooperation, with Iran playing a central, confident and forward-looking role.
NASIR KAZEROUN
BRICS FEDERATION