Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has never been one for diplomatic niceties, but his remarks this week represent a new level of directness. Speaking at a press conference in Brasília, Lula accused the United States of “thinking they own the world” and called the war with Iran “an act of imperial arrogance that will be paid for by poor people on every continent.”
The comments drew immediate condemnation from Washington. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller called them “unhelpful and inaccurate.” But Lula isn’t speaking to Washington. He’s speaking to the vast majority of the world’s population that sees the Iran conflict through a very different lens than Western capitals.
The Global South Consensus
Lula’s comments reflect a broader shift in international opinion. At the UN General Assembly emergency session last week, 128 countries voted for a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire — a resolution vetoed by the United States. India, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria all spoke in favour. Even traditional US allies like Japan and South Korea abstained.
The economic dimension makes the anger understandable. The Strait of Hormuz closure has pushed oil prices past $112 a barrel. For developing nations already struggling with debt burdens and food insecurity, this energy shock is catastrophic. The IMF estimates that every $10 increase in oil prices costs developing nations $100 billion in aggregate GDP.
BRICS Steps Up
The timing of Lula’s remarks coincides with an emergency BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Cape Town, where member states are discussing a coordinated response to the energy crisis. Proposals on the table include a BRICS emergency oil-sharing mechanism and a joint diplomatic initiative to broker a ceasefire.
Whether BRICS can actually deliver anything concrete remains doubtful — the bloc has always been better at issuing communiqués than taking action. But the symbolism matters. The world’s largest developing nations are explicitly positioning themselves as an alternative to US-led order, and the Iran war is accelerating that process.
Washington’s Dilemma
The Biden-era strategy of competing with China by courting the Global South now lies in ruins. The Trump administration’s Iran war has done more to push developing nations towards Beijing and Moscow than any amount of Belt and Road spending could achieve. Lula knows this. So does every other leader in the Global South. The question is whether anyone in Washington is listening.