The enigma surrounding Sunday’s unprecedented drone attack on the Barakah nuclear plant deepened on Monday as the UAE said the drone came from its western border, but it did not accuse Iran.
Twenty-four hours after the drone attack on the Barakah nuclear plant, the UAE stated that it is investigating what it called “an unprovoked terrorist attack,” stating that the drone “entered the country’s territory from the western border direction.”
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The Emirates and the other countries in the Gulf and beyond did not accuse Iran of the attack, which may also signal a different origin of the drone attack, as the UAE and other Gulf states constantly monitor the airspace to detect Iranian attacks.
Sunday’s drone attack on the Barakah nuclear plant started a fire in an electric generator inside the nuclear plant perimeter but did not cause any injury or any impact on radiation safety levels, the UAE statement said.
The UAE warned that “it will not tolerate any threat to its security and sovereignty under any circumstances, and that it reserves its full, sovereign, legitimate, diplomatic, and military rights to respond to any threats, allegations, or hostilities.”
UAE’s Industry and Advanced Technology Minister Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also the CEO of the state-owned oil company ADNOC, stated on Monday that the Emirates' “resolve only grows stronger” following the attack.
“The targeting of Barakah is a terrorist attack on a peaceful project, built to the highest safety standards, that powers homes, hospitals, and industries across the UAE, and on the right of every nation to build, to progress, and to deliver clean energy to its people,” Al Jaber said in a statement on X.
Most of the Gulf and wider Middle East countries condemned the attack, with Qatar’s foreign ministry saying the attack is “a blatant violation of international law and a serious threat to regional security.”
Meanwhile on Monday, the World Nuclear Association, an organisation representing the global nuclear industry, announced that the nuclear plant is operating safely.
“We call on those responsible for military activity of any kind in the proximity of this nuclear power plant, and all civilian energy facilities, to revisit the agreements of the Geneva conventions,” the organisation said in a statement.
“We appreciate the role of the IAEA in reporting on such incidents and in reminding all parties of their obligations under international law," the statement added.