UAE and Iran leaders meet at BRICS summit for first time since war
Abu Dhabi's crown prince and Iran's president held talks at the BRICS summit in India, marking their highest-level meeting since the US-Israel war with Iran, weeks after the UAE suspended trade with Tehran. No change to the trade restrictions was announced.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday during the BRICS summit in India, in the highest-level contact between the two countries since the US-Israel war with Iran began.
The meeting came weeks after the UAE's foreign ministry announced on 19 August that it had suspended all trade and financial transactions with Iran, citing regional escalation. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said the two leaders stressed the importance of supporting efforts to reduce tensions and strengthen regional stability. No change to the trade restrictions or specific agreement was announced.
UAE presidential diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash has said trust is "the mountain we will have to climb" and that geography leaves the UAE no alternative to engagement, though relations will need to be judged by actions rather than words. Former Israeli military intelligence official Danny Citrinowicz said the UAE's approach is to manage the Iranian risk rather than isolate Tehran, since it has little interest in becoming a frontline state in another regional conflict.
BRICS calls for restraint
Both countries backed the summit's New Delhi Declaration, which expressed concern over rising Middle East tensions and called for maximum restraint, protection of civilians, and a diplomatic settlement. Chinese President Xi Jinping urged BRICS to help bring peace to the region. Pezeshkian told the BRICS Plus session that attacks on economic and energy infrastructure have consequences beyond borders, and called for greater use of national currencies.
Hormuz shipping route talks
Pezeshkian said Arab foreign ministers were due to meet in Muscat on Monday to sign an agreement on a joint Iran-Oman shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Gulf states' shared position that the strait must remain open to free navigation. Gargash previously said the UAE would not accept a single state controlling the strait. Pezeshkian said Iran would reopen the strait once the US ends its naval blockade, without giving a date. On Sunday, a Qeshm official said one person died after a merchant vessel was struck near Iran's Hengam and Qeshm islands.
