Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 13: India has used its presidency of the BRICS grouping to push for dialogue and restraint to bring the warring Iran and the United Arab Emirates nearer in a big sign of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.
At the initiative of India, Iran and the United Arab Emirates held a high-level bilateral meeting in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit against the backdrop of continued conflict in the West Asia. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on Saturday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. The embassy said President Pezeshkian “held a meeting and talks” with the senior UAE official and published a photograph of the two men together.
After the meeting, the Iranian President on Sunday said the countries want to “turn the page” on the conflict. “We had a constructive exchange with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi,” Masoud Pezeshkian said a day after a meeting with Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in India. “It was agreed that we would turn the page, look to the future and build it together,” he added. Last month, the UAE had announced that it was suspending trade and financial exchanges with Iran.
The meeting between the leaders on Saturday was the highest-level contact between Iran and UAE since the region was plunged into chaos following joint US-Israeli aggression against Tehran and the subsequent retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic on US bases in Gulf States, including the UAE.
During the meeting, Pezeshkian said Iran has “no problem” with the UAE or other regional countries but objected the presence of US military bases in Gulf countries. He also accused the US of using these bases to attack Iran during the war.
“We have no problems with the UAE. We have no problem with any of the regional countries. We have a problem with the American bases located in these countries and from which they are attacking our country,” Pezeshkian said. “The UAE, the Emiratis and other countries of the region are our brothers. We have been living together for a long time and we have had trade. We have supported each other,” he said.
He said friendly countries should not allow “enemies” to use their soil to attack other neighbouring countries, the Iranian leader said. Abu Dhabhi had not participated as a direct party in the talks held in Islamabad in April between Iranian officials and US and his allies of the region.
Iran and the UAE subsequently joined other BRICS members in backing the 11-member BRICS grouping adopting the New Delhi Declaration 2026, expressing serious concern over the escalation in the West Asia and calling for maximum restraint, dialogue and diplomacy. It also called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and stressed the importance of maintaining global trade, supply chains and energy flows. New Delhi has maintained relations with both Tehran and Abu Dhabi, while simultaneously trying to preserve its relationship with Washington and its ties with Israel.
Earlier this week, Iran’s army said it had targeted US military infrastructure at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait and Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE. “This morning, the army hit the satellite communication systems, equipment depots and fighter aircraft hangars of the terrorist US army at the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait with missiles and drones,” Iran’s army said in a statement.
It added that “the location of forces and radar systems of the child-killing US army at the Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE were also attacked by missiles and drones of the army.” The UAE itself has been placed in an increasingly difficult position by the conflict as it is a member of BRICS alongside Iran and Saudi Arabia, even though the three countries have taken different positions on the war launched by the US and Israel in February.