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BRICS foreign ministers wrapped up a two-day meeting in New Delhi on Friday without a joint statement, blaming “differing views” among members over the Middle East war as Iran and the United Arab Emirates clashed openly inside the bloc.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: BRICS is the bloc of major non-Western economies originally made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, now expanded to include Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, and Indonesia, with member states making up about 40% of the world’s people and roughly a third of global GDP. India holds the rotating chair in 2026 and hosted this week’s meeting. The Iran-UAE rift has split the group since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, with Iran launching missile and drone strikes on UAE soil, including what it says were US military bases there. Recent reporting has revealed that the UAE carried out strikes within Iran in retaliation.
What’s going on now: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the UAE’s Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar reportedly went at each other during the opening sessions, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stepping in to de-escalate. Iran came in demanding the bloc formally denounce the war, while the UAE shot back, calling out Iran for what it described as ongoing “terrorist attacks” on civilian targets and key infrastructure on its soil since the war kicked off, and saying Tehran bears the blame.
Speaking to reporters, Araghchi said Iran had no issues with the UAE and that they “have not been our target in the current war. We only hit American military bases and American military installations which are unfortunately on their soil.”
India released a chair’s statement instead of a joint declaration, acknowledging that “differing views” kept the group from agreeing on the Middle East and noting that one member had reservations about sections on Gaza and security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
This all comes as India, which ranks third globally in oil imports and consumption, has been hit hard by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, where attacks have been tied to the deaths of at least three Indian nationals.
