Iran Accuses UAE of Direct Involvement in Military Aggression at BRICS Meeting

Iran lashed out at the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, accusing Abu Dhabi of direct involvement in military operations against Tehran during a tense exchange at the Brics foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.

The sharp escalation came a day after the UAE denied a claim by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had visited the Gulf country during the Iran war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier warned that “those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account.”

“I didn't name the UAE in my (BRICS) statement for the sake of unity. But the truth is that the UAE was directly involved in the aggression against my country,” he said, reported Reuters, citing Iranian state media. “When the attacks started, they didn't even issue a condemnation,” he added. "We must live side by side in peace, and this requires peaceful relations and complete understanding between the two countries," Araghchi added.

Additionally, Deputy Foreign Minister for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi later issued an even more forceful statement, accusing the UAE of helping facilitate attacks against Iran and insisting Abu Dhabi “must accept responsibility for your actions.”

“The United Arab Emirates played a significant role in supporting and facilitating the military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Gharibabadi said during the BRICS meeting. "Therefore, a party that itself contributed to the creation and escalation of tensions lacks any legitimacy to level political accusations and claims against Iran," he added, as quoted by Iran Embassy in India.

“The UAE is an aggressor, not merely an accomplice to aggression,” he further said, citing a 1974 UN General Assembly resolution. Gharibabadi claimed Iran had warned Gulf countries, including the UAE, before the conflict escalated that any assistance to US or Israeli operations would invite retaliation.

“We had no option but to target all facilities of US bases in the UAE, or any facilities and installations in the UAE in which the United States had a role or participation,” he said, calling the strikes an act of “legitimate self-defense.”

“You must accept responsibility for your actions,” he said directly to the Emirati side, adding that Iran had submitted more than 120 diplomatic notes and extensive documentation to the UN Security Council, including alleged records of “every warplane that took off from the UAE.”

Further recalling their initial attempts to reach out and warnings he added, "Let me remind you that several days before the aggression began, as we possessed information regarding the possibility of attacks by the Israeli regime and the United States, we sent official messages to regional countries, including the United Arab Emirates. We warned them that if they assisted the aggressors and made their territory and facilities available to them, Iran would have no choice but to exercise its legitimate right of self-defense by targeting those facilities in defense of its country."

The Iran war began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, followed by Iranian missile and drone attacks on US bases and targets across Gulf countries. The renewed war of words also threatens to complicate consensus at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in India. Iranian media, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi, said there were already “problems and communications” surrounding efforts to finalise a joint communique because of tensions with the UAE.