Iran has provided “free of charge services” to international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz for decades but is now working on a “protocol” to include a financial component covering costs it incurs to make navigation safe in the Persian Gulf region, said the country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in New Delhi on Wednesday (May 13, 2026).

Speaking to a select group of journalists at the Embassy of Iran, Mr. Gharibabadi, who is here for the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting, avoided naming the UAE directly and said “a neighbouring country that is also a member of the BRICS” is thwarting a joint statement at the meeting by trying to introduce language that seeks to condemn Iran’s military strategy against U.S. and Israeli attacks.

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Travellers stranded by a widening war began departing the United Arab Emirates aboard a small number of evacuation flights on Monday, even as most commercial air traffic across the Middle East remained suspended.

The limited flights out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi took place as the U.S. State Department urged its citizens in 13 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman, to “depart now via commercial means due to serious safety risks.” Sweeping airspace closures and flight cancellations across the region left many fewer options for heeding the advice.

Since US and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf states started Saturday, commercial flights have been halted or heavily restricted, leaving tourists, business travellers, migrant workers and religious pilgrims stuck in hotels, airports and aboard cruise ships.

Airspace remained closed Monday over Iran, Iraq and Israel. Jordan instituted a temporary closure beginning Monday afternoon. Other countries in the Gulf — including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — had partial or temporary closures that could be extended, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24.

About 13,000 of the roughly 32,000 flights scheduled into and out of the Middle East since Saturday have been cancelled, aviation analytics firm Cirium said.

-AP