The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, May 19th said drones that targeted its nuclear plant last week came from Iraq, from where Iranian-backed groups have launched several attacks since the Middle East war began.
On May 17th, an unclaimed UAV struck an electrical generator near the Arab world’s only nuclear power plant in Barakah in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, triggering a fire but causing no injuries or radiation leak. Two other drones had been intercepted.
The site had been in Iran’s crosshairs for some time. In March, Iranian media published a list of power plants as potential targets, including Barakah.
“As part of the ongoing investigation into the blatant attack on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant on May 17th, technical tracking and monitoring confirmed that the three drones… all originated from Iraqi territory,” the Emirati defence ministry said.
Authorities intercepted six UAVs that also came from Iraq and “attempted to target civilian and vital areas” in the past 48 hours, the ministry added.
Iraqi authorities had already condemned the attack on Barakah before Abu Dhabi announced where the drones came from. However, Iran-backed groups in Iraq have not claimed any strikes since the truce came into place, although Gulf countries have reported attacks from Iraq.
