Le Figaro leads Pezeshkian on 'dangerous' pressure on Iran, IRNA on BRICS national currencies

Two leads, one afternoon. Le Figaro and IRNA, Iran's state news agency, published reports on President Masoud Pezeshkian five seconds apart on 11 September. They lead on different things.

What Le Figaro quotes. Pezeshkian says that when a country faces "political and military pressure" on its trade, energy, infrastructure and financial system, the effects cross its borders. Le Figaro's text names no one as applying the pressure.

What IRNA quotes. IRNA says Pezeshkian called national currencies "one of the bloc's most essential priorities". It quotes no other voice on the proposal.

The meeting on the side. A second IRNA report cites a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson: China's president and India's prime minister will meet at the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi. Beijing expects the meeting to help manage "differences" between the two countries. It does not say what they are. Le Figaro's text does not mention the meeting.

What is not settled - Whether both reports quote the same speech. Le Figaro's text does not say where he spoke. - Whether he gave the warning at the summit. IRNA's report of his BRICS remarks does not include it. - Each claim rests on one outlet, and we hold only the opening lines of each report. - No Indian outlet we hold confirms the China–India meeting.

What this is about. Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking on 11 September: one report has him warning about the pressure on Iran, the other has him asking the BRICS countries to trade in one another's currencies. The two subjects are one subject. The pressure is largely financial, and BRICS is where Iran looks for room around it.

How it got here. Iran's nuclear programme has been bargained over for two decades. The 2015 agreement between Iran and six powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — lifted United Nations and Western sanctions in return for limits on that programme. The United States withdrew in 2018, under President Trump, and reimposed its own measures. Those measures reach far past American borders, because most cross-border payment clears in dollars: a bank anywhere can be cut off from the American financial system for handling Iranian money. Pezeshkian was elected in July 2024, after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash. Iran joined BRICS — founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China, later joined by South Africa and others — at the start of 2024. Settling trade in national currencies rather than dollars is an old BRICS argument; for Iran it is a sanctions argument.

Earlier this month we found outlets divided over what to call the confrontation between Iran and the United States, with Trump reported as denying it is a war. We reported disputed accounts of traffic and strikes in the Strait of Hormuz, the channel that carries Gulf oil out to sea; a US Treasury designation of a firm it says moved money for the Revolutionary Guard; Türkiye saying it was working to end the fighting; and, on 10 September, Iran's file going to the UN Security Council, the one body that can order sanctions binding on every state.

What is at stake. If BRICS members settle more of their trade outside the dollar, sanctions bite less. If the Security Council route runs, Iran faces restrictions its partners cannot lawfully ignore.

Where it stands. The bloc's 18th summit is in New Delhi. China's foreign ministry says its president and India's prime minister will meet there.