BRICS Summit Closes With Call for 'Maximum Restraint' Over Iran War
The BRICS summit in New Delhi closed with a unanimous declaration calling for “maximum restraint” in the American-Iranian war and condemning attacks on civilian infrastructure and IAEA-safeguarded nuclear facilities — language aimed at Washington without naming it. On the summit’s margins, Iran’s president met Abu Dhabi’s crown prince: the first constructive Iranian-Emirati exchange since the war began, both sides agreeing, in Tehran’s telling, to “turn the page”.
The declaration matters less than the meeting beside it: the UAE suspended ties with Iran after strikes on Dubai’s airport killed twelve, and an agreed “turn the page” — if it holds — would begin rebuilding the Gulf’s hedging architecture that this war demolished, with Abu Dhabi resuming its historic role as the emirate that trades with everyone while hosting the Americans. For the BRICS, the war is the organising gift the bloc lacked: nothing unifies a heterogeneous club like an American conflict its members all pay for at the pump but none chose. India’s presidency closing on this note positions Delhi for the mediation role it quietly covets. Watch Emirati trade data with Iran — pages turn in customs ledgers before communiqués.