BRICS summit sees UAE, Iran ease tensions over occupied islands

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MbZ) met for the first time on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Russia, following recent tensions over three occupied islands.

MbZ discussed with Pezeshkian, a moderate elected to head Iran’s government in July, “the ongoing developments in West Asia, including the war in Gaza and Lebanon”, according to the Iranian president’s official website during the 16th BRICS Summit held in Kazan, widely seen as a counterbalance to Western hegemony. 

There have been renewed tensions over the Gaza war and three Straits of Hormuz islands islands – Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs – which were seized by Iran in 1971 during the British withdrawal from the UAE.

The issue heated up recently after the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a joint statement this week urging Iran to “end its occupation of the three islands of the UAE”, while some Iranian media personalities responded by flaunting Tehran’s control over the islands with a ‘three finger’ symbol.

Araghchi confirmed that the two countries discussed the status of the islands, but re-iterated Tehran’s sovereignty over them.

“We do not miss any opportunity to clarify and firmly defend the positions and interests of the Islamic Republic, especially regarding the three islands of the Persian Gulf,” Iranian president’s website quoted Araghchi saying. 

“The three islands have always belonged to Iran and will forever remain as such.”

There have also been tensions over the UAE’s normalisation deal with Israel, known as the Abraham Accords, with the issue coming under the spotlight again amid expected Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

Iran targeted Israeli military sites earlier this month following a series of provocations, including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, while Tehran has long history of backing groups who are currently fighting Israel, including Hamas, Hezbollah the Houthis and Iraq’s Islamic Resistance umbrella group.

There was also unease about the UAE reportedly offering to be part of an international force ready to enter Gaza after the war.

The Iranian statement said that MbZ and Pezeshkian “empasised the need to stop the attacks of the Zionist regime on Gaza and Lebanon”.

The UAE’s official news agency confirmed MbZ’s attendance at the BRICS summit, but did not mention the meeting with Pezeshkian.

The BRICS summit also saw a meeting between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al=Nahyan

Araghchi said that the Iranian and Emirati delegations shared views on the need to stop the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.