Iran and the United Arab Emirates held a high-level bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, the highest-level contact between the two countries since the Gulf war began, NewsFirst reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. The Iranian embassy in India said Pezeshkian “held a meeting and talks” with the UAE official and published a photograph of the two men together.
Why this meeting is significant
The two countries are on opposing sides of the conflict. The meeting is the first at this level since the region was plunged into chaos following joint US–Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on US bases in Gulf states, including the UAE.
Al Jazeera described it as their highest-level talks since the conflict began, noting that both leaders backed calls for restraint despite the Iranian attacks on the UAE.
Abu Dhabi had not participated as a direct party in the talks held in Islamabad in April between Iranian officials and the United States and its regional allies — making Saturday’s meeting a notable shift.
Al Jazeera also reports that Bahrain refused to meet Pezeshkian at the same summit, indicating the opening is specific to the UAE rather than a general Gulf thaw.
What was said
The Abu Dhabi media office said on X that the two leaders discussed regional and international issues, de-escalation, stability, and efforts to advance regional peace and development. It did not refer to any resolution reached in the discussions.
Iran and the UAE subsequently joined other BRICS members in backing the summit declaration calling for maximum restraint in the Middle East.
The split that had blocked a joint statement
That is the more consequential outcome. The Iran–UAE disagreement was the reason a BRICS joint declaration had been in doubt going into the summit — the same split had blocked BRICS foreign ministers from issuing a joint statement in May.
Negotiators ultimately settled on text that names no country but condemns unilateral war by any state, and the declaration was agreed as the summit opened. Neither account explains how the drafting disagreement was resolved, or whether Saturday’s bilateral contributed to it.
Why it matters here
Sri Lanka is not a BRICS member, but the war driving this diplomacy is setting the country’s import bill. Brent crude has broken US$100 a barrel and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said this week it has no immediate plan to raise pump prices while absorbing higher crude costs. Any de-escalation between Iran and a major Gulf state bears directly on that exposure.
Not reported
Neither account says who else attended the meeting, how long it lasted, whether either side requested it, or whether any follow-up contact was agreed. Neither reports an Iranian read-out beyond the embassy’s confirmation that talks took place, and the Abu Dhabi statement records no outcome.
Neither says whether the UAE raised the strikes on its territory, whether compensation or acknowledgement was discussed, or whether diplomatic relations — and at what level they currently stand — were addressed.
