Speaking after the BRICS ministerial, Abbas Araghchi said portions of the draft joint statement were “blocked” by a member state he did not name, describing the move as “very unfortunate.” He suggested the objection stemmed from that country’s “special relations with Israel,” a remark widely interpreted as referring to the United Arab Emirates. Araghchi did not disclose which elements of the communiqué were opposed, but his comments pointed to visible differences within the grouping at the close of the meeting.