DUBAI, August 8. /TASS/. The BRICS association of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has a potential for becoming a global integration association, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Tuesday.

"We think that when the idea of BRICS’ expansion is translated into reality, this association will become a really global integration structure," he said at a conference in Tehran dedicated to cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and BRICS.

He noted that BRICS is one he few examples of real economic and political cooperation, which can influence regional and international processes. "As a matter of fact, this is the first efficient political and economic association to be ever established in the developing world," he stressed.

The conference was organized by Iran’s Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), a think tank. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who was on a working visit in Tehran on August 7-8, took part in the conference.

The BRICS summit will he held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 22-24. According to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, among the topics to be discussed at the BRICS summit will be the organization’s expansion. She noted that twenty-three countries, including Iran, have applied for membership.