# Power Blocs

By [DYLIT Chronicles](https://dylit.info/user/dylitmediabuzz)

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The BRICS Gulf moment: How BRICS could transform Iran–UAE relations What the "BRICS Gulf moment" actually means BRICS pulled off something unusual in January 2024: it put Iran and the UAE at the same table. Both joined as full members alongside Egypt, Ethiopia and a de facto participating Saudi Arabia, turning a bloc once built around Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa into something closer to a Global South coalition spanning roughly a third of world GDP. That's the "BRICS Gulf moment" people keep referring to this year. Two Gulf-facing rivals, bound by the same summits and working groups, whether they like each other or not. The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi this September has turned that awkward proximity into a live test case, since the bloc now needs Iran and the UAE to agree on enough language to issue a joint declaration at all. From missile strikes to a business-forum handshake The backdrop is genuinely ugly. War broke out this year involving Iran, the US and Israel, and the UAE ended up on the receiving end of more Iranian projectiles than any other Gulf state. Abu Dhabi shut its Tehran embassy in March after Iranian strikes on Emirati territory, and it suspended trade and financial transactions with Iran outright in August. Yet just weeks later, at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, Iranian and Emirati business representatives sat on the same panel pushing for a joint matchmaking platform for women-led firms, with the UAE pitching itself as a gateway for cross-border deals. Governments are at odds; parts of the private sector clearly aren't ready to give up on each other. Money without a middleman Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian used his Business Forum speech to push BRICS toward settling trade in national currencies rather than dollars, and floated a $10 billion BRICS reinsurance vehicle plus a bigger financing role for the New Development Bank. Iran's central bank has said it intends to join the NDB, though the bank itself hasn't confirmed a formal application. The UAE already sits inside that plumbing: it's been an NDB member since 2021 and one of the more active participants in mBridge, the central-bank digital-currency platform that lets China, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Thailand settle payments without routing through Western correspondent banks. If Iran ever gets meaningful access to those same rails, Emirati and Iranian firms would have a technical path to trade that doesn't touch the dollar system at all. That's a mechanism, not a peace deal, but mechanisms tend to outlast politicians. Diplomacy in the room, whether they like it or not The diplomatic track has been rockier. Iran's foreign minister used a May meeting in New Delhi to accuse the UAE of acting as a direct partner in attacks on Iran, and a similar clash flared at a National Security Advisers session weeks later. Even so, some regional analysts argue the summit itself functions as a rare informal channel, a room where Iranian and Emirati officials cross paths without a Western mediator hovering nearby. There's a precedent worth watching: the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which counts many of the same members, managed to agree on compromise wording about the Iran conflict earlier this month despite sharp internal splits. BRICS negotiators in New Delhi are reportedly eyeing that as a template for their own statement. Why "transformation" remains a stretch None of this erases the constraints. US secondary sanctions still choke Iran's banking sector no matter what BRICS builds on paper. The security mistrust behind the embassy closure and the missile exchanges doesn't dissolve because both sides hold the same membership card. And BRICS runs on consensus, so one unresolved Iran–UAE dispute can stall the entire bloc's joint declaration, which nearly happened in May. What BRICS realistically offers is a shared table, some emerging financial plumbing and an informal side channel, not a reconciliation. Whether that's enough to nudge Tehran and Abu Dhabi back toward the cautious de-escalation they had before this year's war is the open question New Delhi didn't answer. Sources Iran and UAE clash at BRICS foreign ministers meeting – Iran International: https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605147412 BRICS summit begins in India; Iran-UAE dynamic key to joint statement – Nikkei Asia: https://asia.nikkei.com/politics/international-relations/brics-summit-begins-in-india-iran-uae-dynamic-key-to-joint-statement Related YouTube videos "BRICS Falling Apart"? The Truth Behind the Iran-UAE Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ynOyEZCc3o BRICS Summit 2026: Who's coming, what's on the agenda and why it matters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3fr6YU3SKA "Even Israel Couldn't Save You": Clashes At BRICS Summit; Iran Minister Blasts UAE Diplomat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UWupIyWeA8