Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for safeguarding freedom of navigation and commerce during a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian amid renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz.

The two leaders met in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, on the sidelines of the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and discussed recent developments in the Middle East, “sharing perspectives on the evolving situation,” according to a statement from Modi’s office.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between Modi and Pezeshkian since the US-Iran war began in late February, although the two leaders have spoken several times by phone.

Modi “expressed concern at the escalation of tensions in the region and reiterated India’s consistent position that all issues must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy,” and “reiterated the need for continued efforts to ensure lasting peace and stability in the region.”

Calling for “safeguarding the freedom of navigation and commerce,” Modi emphasised that “civilians and civilian infrastructure, including commercial shipping and seafarers, must not be harmed under any circumstances,” according to the statement.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Tehran still seeks a negotiated solution to its conflict with the US.

Pezeshkian also added that the war serves no one’s interests, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

Iranian authorities have seized a bulk carrier after they said it dumped oil and sludge into the Strait of Hormuz, state media has reported.

"Following the publication of images of the discharge of oil into the sea... expert and clean-up teams were dispatched to the site and seized the ship causing the pollution," the deputy head of the Ports and Maritime Department of the southern Hormozgan province, Esmaeil Makizadeh, told the official IRNA news agency.

"The seized ship was a bulk carrier carrying sugar and had dumped a mixture of burnt oil, bilge water and industrial sludge directly into the sea," he added, without specifying the vessel's flag or the nationalities of its crew.

The United Arab Emirates has said in a statement that it has a “full and legitimate right to respond” to Iranian attacks after its air defences intercepted a drone over its territorial waters.

The UAE Foreign Ministry condemned the “aggressive Iranian attack” as a “dangerous escalation” and a blatant violation of the country’s sovereignty, security and stability.

Abu Dhabi called for an immediate end to hostile acts and held Iran fully responsible for the attacks and their consequences.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, ANI news agency reported, the first meeting between the two leaders in two years.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "serpent", accusing him of tricking Washington into going to war with Tehran.

"In Hebrew, Netanyahu openly crows that he suckered the US Administration into a war on Iran on behalf of Israel. Netanyahu explicitly laughs about how he 'influenced' America through 1,000 hours of airtime on US networks," Araghchi said in a post on X.

“In English, he praises POTUS' leadership. Serpent," he added.

Yemen’s government-aligned National Resistance Forces said that they intercepted Houthi “suicide boats” while they were attempting to approach Yemeni islands in the Red Sea.

In a statement carried by their 2 December news agency, the forces said the boats were attempting to “infiltrate and approach liberated islands that control the arteries of international shipping.”

The forces “confronted these boats,” the statement noted, without providing details on the number of boats or their fate.

“Intense movements of suicide boats” belonging to the Houthis were observed “at various times” on Sunday and Monday, it added.

Iran’s national oil company head said Kharg Island was bombed “several times" by the US-Israeli attacks but the strikes did not halt oil production, according to Fars news agency.

Chief-executive of the company Hamid Bovard called US President Donald Trump’s comments that Kharg Island was "blown to smithereens" "laughable," saying contractors were rebuilding and renovating storage tanks.

“None of the ongoing work on Kharg has stopped,” he said, adding that some projects were 20 percent to 30 percent complete and work continued.

The United Arab Emirates has denied claims that Tehran targeted a base housing US personnel with missiles, after announcing it had intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters.

"Media reports regarding a missile attack on Al Minhad Air Base are baseless," the Emirati defence ministry said in a statement on X.

Earlier on Monday, Iran had said it targeted the base using "dozens of attack drones".