Tehran, Jun 3 (IANS): Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that BRICS member states' combined efforts to strengthen multilateralism have enabled the block to secure an important position in global relations and interactions.

Speaking at the Friends of BRICS meeting in South Africa, Amir-Abdollahian noted that such a position will certainly be further enhanced if other like-minded powers would join the group, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Friday in a statement.

Iran can be a "reliable" partner for BRICS in the future, the Minister said, stressing that the country has rich experience of active participation in international bodies and initiatives, abundant energy resources, cost-effective transport and transit networks, educated and skillful workforce, scientific and tech achievements, and "strong" dedication and determination to contribute to a fair world order.

He added Iran is among the pioneers of promoting multilateralism in the world, with its bilateral political and economic relations with the BRICS members standing at a "very good" level and having a total trade of more than $30 billion with them, Xinhua news agency reported.

Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Cape Town on Thursday at the invitation of his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor to attend the meeting.

During his meeting with Pandor, the Iranian Minister expressed hope that the BRICS members would soon decide on a mechanism for recruiting new members.

For his part, Pandor assured him that the BRICS states will submit the results of the discussion on recruiting mechanism to the summit of the BRICS heads of state that her country hosts in August.

BRICS is the acronym for an emerging-market bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. South Africa assumed the BRICS presidency on January 1, 2023, taking over from China.