New Delhi: The fallout from the recent US-Iran conflict reverberated through the BRICS National Security Advisers’ Meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday (June 23), with China outlining what it saw as the war’s lessons and Iran calling on the bloc to condemn “state terrorism”.The 16th BRICS National Security Advisers’ Meeting, chaired by national security adviser Ajit Doval, brought together senior security officials from the expanded grouping for two days to discuss terrorism, cyber security and a range of non-traditional security challenges. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the participants also deliberated on energy security, food security, supply chain resilience, climate-induced instability and the use of emerging technologies by terrorist networks.But accounts released by China and Iran showed that the conflict in West Asia remained an important reference point in the discussions, even as Washington and Tehran reached a first-phase memorandum of understanding last week that ended more than 100 days of hostilities and opened a new round of negotiations.According to Beijing, foreign minister Wang Yi argued that any international or regional crisis should be resolved on the basis of international rules.“The law of the jungle may prevail for a time, but it is not sustainable,” he said according to the Chinese foreign ministry.He also stressed the importance of respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, describing them as the most basic principles of international conduct, and warned against attempts by countries to pursue their own security at the expense of others.“The pursuit of absolute security at the expense of the security of others will only backfire,” Wang said, while calling for a “new security concept” based on common and indivisible security.The Chinese official further argued that recent conflicts had demonstrated the growing importance of non-traditional forms of warfare. Information warfare and cyber warfare, he said, were becoming increasingly visible features of modern conflicts, making it necessary for countries to adapt to changing security threats.Iran, meanwhile, focused on what it described as the implications of the conflict for BRICS’s counter-terrorism agenda.According to statements released by the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, Ghadir Nezamipour, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, argued that terrorism could no longer be viewed solely as the actions of extremist groups and non-state actors.“In the contemporary global landscape, terrorism has assumed far more sophisticated and institutionalised configurations,” he said.“When these acts are executed not by scattered, non-state groups, but with the active sponsorship, direction, complicity and direct responsibility of sovereign governments, terrorism transcends non-state actors. It transforms into state terrorism.”Nezamipour directly linked that argument to the recent conflict, describing the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran as “an unambiguous manifestation of state terrorism“. He argued that BRICS should address both “state terrorism” and “non-state terrorism” within its counter-terrorism framework.“Terrorism can only be countered effectively and comprehensively when all of its manifestations are condemned without exception, and without any selective or politically motivated classification of its perpetrators,” he said.While endorsing efforts to combat ideological extremism, illicit financing and terrorist recruitment, Nezamipour argued that these measures alone were insufficient because terrorism had become intertwined with the strategic objectives of major powers.“The Islamic Republic of Iran firmly believes that BRICS’s overarching approaches and strategic measures must comprehensively address both state terrorism and non-state terrorism in tandem,” he said.Iran proposed that the BRICS counter-terrorism working group explicitly examine what it described as the role of foreign intervention and the geopolitical instrumentalisation of terrorism, adopt a common position against state-sponsored terrorism, strengthen intelligence-sharing mechanisms and expand operational cooperation among member states.Nezamipour’s intervention reflected Tehran’s broader effort to push BRICS towards a stronger position on the conflict. Since the outbreak of the war, Iranian leaders have called on the grouping to condemn the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and to take a clearer stand on the conflict. Those efforts have so far failed to produce a consensus BRICS position.At the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi last month, disagreements over the war prevented the adoption of a joint declaration, forcing India, as chair, to issue a chair’s statement instead. Indian officials subsequently acknowledged that members held differing views on the conflict and said they would continue efforts to find common ground.Those divisions resurfaced during Tuesday’s discussions.According to the Iranian readout, Nezamipour rejected allegations made by the Emirati representative and accused the UAE of supporting military operations against Iran.“The entire world witnessed that the United States and the Zionist regime were the initiators of the aggression and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “Part of these attacks were launched from bases located on the territory of the United Arab Emirates.”The latest exchange echoed tensions that surfaced publicly at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, when Iran and the UAE traded accusations over the conflict.The official Indian readout of Tuesday’s meeting made no reference to either the US-Iran conflict or the exchange between Iran and the UAE.As per the MEA, the national security advisers reviewed the work of BRICS counter-terrorism and cyber security working groups and supported enhanced cooperation on capacity-building, information sharing and coordination among law enforcement agencies.The participants reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism “in all its forms and manifestations”, including the misuse of emerging technologies by terrorist networks. They also discussed energy security, food security, supply chain resilience, cyber security and climate-induced instability.Following the meeting, the national security advisers and heads of delegation jointly called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.