Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi on Saturday, marking the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the Iran war began.

Axar.az reports, citing South China Morning Post, that the bilateral meeting came as the fallout of the war in Iran widened, with Saudi Arabia shutting its key East-West oil pipeline after it was attacked by drones on Friday. The closure of the pipeline stretching across the Arabian Peninsula has heightened global concerns over more oil supply disruption.

The meeting, confirmed by the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, brought the Iran and UAE leaders face to face months after bilateral frictions intensified sharply in late February, as US-Israeli strikes saw Tehran hit back at American allies in the region.

The crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said in a social media post after the meeting that the two sides discussed regional and international issues, “along with the importance of supporting de-escalation efforts, reducing tensions, and achieving stability in the region”.