Iran and UAE leaders meet at BRICS summit in Delhi, back de-escalation in West Asia

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, met in New Delhi on Saturday on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit, where they discussed the continuing hostilities in West Asia and voiced support for de-escalation.

The talks came ten days after Iran targeted military installations in the United Arab Emirates, an attack that sharply raised tensions in the Gulf. Saturday's meeting signalled a shared preference on both sides for lowering the temperature rather than deepening the confrontation.

The Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement that the two leaders "discussed several regional and international issues of mutual interest". It said they "underscored the importance of supporting efforts to ease tensions, promote de-escalation and strengthen regional stability, while advancing opportunities for peace and development for the peoples of the region".

Iran's state-run news agency IRNA said the meeting followed Tehran's "consistent calls for and emphasis on strengthening relations with its southern neighbours".

Separately on Saturday, Mr Pezeshkian said West Asia does not need the United States — the country with which Iran is in conflict — to act as a "regional policeman". Speaking after a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, he said, "The territorial integrity and security of the region can only be guaranteed by its main players and the countries that comprise it."

The conflicts in West Asia moved to the top of the BRICS agenda on the first day of the summit. The joint declaration issued at the end of the leaders' dialogue — the New Delhi Declaration, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — expressed "deep concern" over the continued escalation of tensions in West Asia and called for "maximum restraint" and for avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation.

The text, adopted by consensus to accommodate the differing positions of member states, did not name any of the major parties to the conflicts, including the United States. It stressed the need to maintain the "smooth flow of global trade, supply chains and energy, in accordance with applicable international law".

On Palestine, the declaration expressed "deep concern" at the continued fighting in the Gaza Strip and called for "halting any policies aimed at forced displacement of Palestinians". It backed a "just and lasting solution" to the Israel-Palestine conflict and supported the "establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine" within the "internationally recognised 1967 borders that include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital".

The document said Israel has a "legal obligation" to ensure the supply of humanitarian aid in Gaza, and urged Israel to respect the terms agreed with the Lebanese government and to withdraw its occupying forces from all Lebanese territories. It also took a strong position on the attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which have continued since the Israel-Palestine conflict flared up in October 2023.

The BRICS gathering in New Delhi follows diplomatic activity earlier this month at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, where a joint statement condemned the attacks on Iran and supported the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Both Iran and the UAE are among the newer members of the BRICS grouping, which expanded from its original five members in 2024. The presence of both delegations in Delhi, and their decision to hold direct talks, places the summit at the centre of current efforts to prevent the West Asian conflicts from widening further.