New Delhi, Sept. 13 -- The Brics grouping must expand trade in national currencies and work for an inclusive global economic framework, as excessive dependence on existing financial and trade systems has made emerging economies vulnerable to political shocks, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.

Pezeshkian's comments, made while addressing the outreach session of the Brics Summit, were a reiteration of his remarks at the Brics business forum on Friday, when he had railed against the "increasing use of economic instruments to exert political pressure". The comments also came against the backdrop of widening US sanctions on Iran amid a conflict between the two countries.

Hitting out at Western powers, Pezeshkian said "unilat...