Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi. The
meetings come amid rising tensions in West Asia and mark the first high-level diplomatic engagement involving India since the Iran war began.
India is hosting the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on May 14 and 15, 2026, in New Delhi. Prime Minister Modi also met other BRICS foreign ministers attending the gathering.
#BreakingNews | PM Modi meets BRICS foreign ministers@akankshaswarups with @JamwalNews18 | #PMModi #BRICS #Russia
Watch: https://t.co/aNIieODGVs pic.twitter.com/q6gBZ7rncE— News18 (@CNNnews18) May 14, 2026
Iran Raises Concerns Over US Pressure
During the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi strongly criticised what he described as American pressure and coercion. Addressing the gathering, Araghchi said Iran’s resistance against “US bullying” was not unfamiliar to many countries present at the meeting.
“To virtually everyone in this room, our resistance against US bullying is not an unfamiliar battle. So many of us encounter slight variations of the same repugnant coercion,” Araghchi said.
He called on BRICS nations to work together against such practices and said the countries attending the meeting were now closer to one another than ever before.
“It is high time for us to jointly step up and work towards making clear that those practices belong in the dustbin of history,” he added.
Global Tensions
Araghchi also warned about the dangers of growing instability in the region. Referring to ongoing geopolitical tensions, he said countries pursuing “reckless adventures” may believe such actions help their interests, but added that instability ultimately harms everyone involved.
“Those who pursue reckless adventures may believe it furthers their geopolitical interests. But as consumers and governments around the world now sense and understand, regional instability is a lose-lose proposition for all sides, including the aggressors,” he said.
In another sharp remark, the Iranian foreign minister said history had shown that declining powers often take desperate actions to protect their influence.
“History has shown that empires in decline will stop at nothing to arrest their inevitable fates. A wounded animal will desperately claw and roar on its way down,” Araghchi said during his address.
Diplomacy Amid West Asia Crisis
The meetings in New Delhi are taking place at a time when tensions in West Asia remain high following the conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel. The presence of Araghchi and Lavrov at the BRICS meeting underlines the growing diplomatic importance of the forum during the ongoing crisis.
The BRICS meeting has brought together senior ministers from member nations for discussions on regional security, global tensions and economic cooperation.
