Senior figures from the BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities expressed “solidarity” with Tehran and voiced concern over developments in the Middle East in a message to the Iranian capital’s mayor, Tasnim News Agency reported on April 13.

The outreach comes as Tehran continues to navigate heightened regional frictions, with diplomatic messaging from non-state actors and municipal bodies increasingly used to signal soft political alignment without formal commitments from national governments.

The communication, attributed to Il’sur Metshin, mayor of Kazan in Russia, and Washington Quaquá, mayor of Maricá in Brazil, shows growing municipal-level diplomacy within the BRICS+ framework, even as geopolitical tensions in the region remain elevated.

While the message shows rhetorical support and calls for “peaceful resolution”, it carries no binding intergovernmental weight and remains largely symbolic in nature.

The BRICS+ municipal leadership said it was “deeply concerned” about unfolding regional dynamics and expressed sympathy over reported losses in Iran, while reaffirming willingness to expand cooperation with Iranian cities.

The statement also highlighted respect for national sovereignty and non-interference, language commonly used in BRICS-affiliated platforms.

“We share in the sorrow and losses suffered by the people of Iran,” the message said, adding that the resilience of the Iranian public was “worthy of admiration”. It further emphasised that collaboration between cities remains “of significant value” within the association’s framework.

The BRICS+ Association of Cities and Municipalities is part of a broader set of sub-national cooperation initiatives linked to the BRICS grouping of emerging economies, which originally comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and has since expanded to include members such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

Unlike the intergovernmental bloc, the municipal network focuses on urban governance, infrastructure cooperation and technical exchange rather than foreign policy alignment.