BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting Opens in New Delhi — Iran-UAE Confrontation Dominates Day 1

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar opened the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting at Bharat Mandapam convention center, New Delhi on May 14, 2026 — the highest-level multilateral event of India's 2026 BRICS chairmanship. Attendees included Russia's Sergey Lavrov (in person), Brazil's Mauro Vieira, South Africa's Ronald Lamola, Iran's Abbas Araghchi, Indonesia's Sugiono, and China's Ambassador Xu Feihong (FM Wang Yi was absent for US-China summit talks in Beijing). Prime Minister Modi met bilaterally with Foreign Ministers Lavrov and Araghchi on the sidelines — the first in-person India-Iran high-level contact since the Iran-related conflict escalated in early 2026. Day 1 discussions covered UN Security Council reform, BRICS payment infrastructure, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Sudan, and Syria's political transition. Jaishankar called unilateral sanctions 'unjustifiable' in his national statement and advocated for safe maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea. However, Iran FM Araghchi publicly accused the UAE of being 'directly involved in military actions against Iran,' prompting UAE FM Al Marar to issue a sharp rebuttal — a direct confrontation between two BRICS members that immediately overshadowed the meeting's multilateral agenda and blocked early consensus on joint language.