At the BRICS summit on Saturday, both Iran and the UAE signed a joint declaration calling for restraint in the Middle East war. For these two countries, divided by war, this is seen as a sign of diplomatic progress. As reported in Reuters, the declaration states:

“We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia ... call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation.” The declaration called for the protection of civilians, urged respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, and stressed the need to protect global trade, supply chains, energy flows and maritime security.

“The key to ending the war lies with the U.S. and Israel,” Sunjay Sudhir, a former Indian ambassador to the UAE, told Reuters. “What India has done is keep the difficult conversations going, by showing that countries of the region can sit at the same table, engage diplomatically, and build on where their interests converge.”

The Iranian side also released its readout of the meeting between Pezeshkian and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The crown prince is in line to be the next president of the UAE.