New Delhi: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of direct involvement in the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, in a sharp verbal exchange at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi that demonstrated the obstacles within the expanded bloc on reaching a consensus over the West Asia conflict.The confrontation between two of BRICS’ newest members came as negotiations continued over whether the two-day meeting would produce a joint statement at all.A BRICS deputy-level meeting on the Middle East held in New Delhi in April had failed to issue a joint communique after Iran and the UAE clashed over whom to condemn in the conflict.In his opening remarks, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar appeared to allude to the internal tensions without naming any country. “It is essential for the smooth advancement of BRICS that newer members fully appreciate and subscribe to BRICS’ consensus on various important issues,” he said.Iran and the UAE both joined BRICS in 2024 as part of the bloc’s expansion, which also brought in Egypt, Ethiopia and, later, Indonesia.Araghchi’s remarks, posted by Iran’s foreign ministry on its social media channels and reported by Iranian state media, came in response to what the foreign ministry described as “claims” made by the Emirati representative at the meeting.Iranian state media did not specify what the Emirati representative said, and no account of the exchange has been made available by the UAE foreign ministry. The UAE was represented at the meeting by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar.“I didn’t name the UAE in my statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the act of aggression against my country. When the attacks started, they didn’t even issue a condemnation,” Araghchi said, according to the Iranian foreign ministry’s post.He said the UAE had not condemned the attack on an elementary school in Minab on the first day of the US-Israeli strikes on February 28, in which Iran says more than 170 students were killed. “In addition to not condemning the principle of the aggression, the UAE later actively participated in this act of aggression, by providing military bases, airspace, land and facilities to the US and the Israeli regime,” Araghchi said, according to Mehr News Agency.UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs MoS Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar (R), Ethiopia Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedion Timothewos Hessebon, Egypt Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty, Brazil Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Indonesia Foreign Minister Sugiono and Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong at the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in New Delhi, May 14, 2026. Photo: Shahbaz Khan/PTI.He pointed to the announcement a day earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had travelled to the UAE during the war. “It has also become clear that they participated in these strikes and perhaps even acted directly against us. Therefore, the UAE is an active partner in this aggression and there is no doubt about it,” the foreign ministry’s post said.Addressing the Emirati delegation directly, Araghchi said the UAE’s alliance with Israel had failed to protect it. “Your coalition with the Israelis also did not protect you, and you should reconsider your policy toward Iran,” the foreign ministry quoted him as saying.Araghchi said Iran had not attacked the UAE directly but had targeted US military bases and installations located on Emirati soil. “We must live side by side in peace, and this requires peaceful relations and complete understanding between the two countries,” he said.In the second session, Gharibabadi continued the exchange, responding to what the Iranian Embassy in India described as “baseless allegations” by Al Marar, who had accused Iran of attacking the UAE and portrayed Iran as the aggressor. Gharibabadi called the UAE “an aggressor, not merely an accomplice to aggression,” invoking the 1974 United Nations General Assembly resolution on the definition of aggression.Earlier in the day, Araghchi, in his formal national statement to the meeting earlier in the day, Araghchi called on BRICS member states to “explicitly condemn violations of international law by the United States and Israel, including their illegal aggression against Iran.”The verbal exchange came a day after a dispute over Netanyahu’s claim that he had made a secret visit to the UAE during the war and met UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.The UAE denied the claim, saying its relations with Israel were conducted within the framework of the Abraham Accords and were “not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements”. Araghchi had tweeted on Wednesday that “those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account”.Iran’s accusation that the UAE actively facilitated the military campaign follows a Wall Street Journal report published on Monday that said the UAE had carried out secret military operations against Iran in early April. The UAE has not publicly responded to that report.On the sidelines, Araghchi met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval separately. According to the Iranian foreign ministry’s readout, Doval expressed concern over the continued tensions and said India was ready to help restore regional security and end the war.Araghchi also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other visiting foreign ministers, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, South Africa’s Ronald Lamola and Brazil’s Mauro Vieira. China, whose Foreign Minister Wang Yi is not attending due to US President Donald Trump’s concurrent state visit to Beijing, is represented by its ambassador to India, Xu Feihong.