The UAE on Tuesday said that threats and attacks against nuclear plants are a red line, warning it reserved the right to defend its territory and population under international law after a drone strike at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant.
Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab told an emergency Security Council meeting that Sunday's attack constitutes a “dangerous escalation in an already volatile regional environment”, adding that the strike sought to undermine the UAE's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.
“Threats and attacks of this nature are a red line for the UAE, and we reserve our full and inherent right to protect our territory and population in accordance with international law,” he said.
Mr Abushahab said the strike was part of a broader pattern of regional escalation driven by cross-border attacks and proxy groups.
“This brazen attack is not an isolated incident but occurs in a wider regional context, in which persistent cross-border attacks by one state and its proxies have pushed the region towards heightened escalation and dangerous confrontation,” he said.
“The region cannot continue to be pulled toward deeper instability by terrorists and extremists threatening civilians, critical infrastructure, international shipping, and now nuclear safety,” he added.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned the Security Council that the Barakah situation was “of grave concern,” stressing that any strike on the facility could have catastrophic consequences.
“This is a nuclear site in the Middle East, where the consequences of an attack could be most serious,” Mr Grossi told the council. “It is an operating nuclear power plant, and as such, it hosts thousands of kilograms of nuclear material in the core of the reactors, fresh and spent fuel.”
“I want to make it absolutely and completely clear. In case of an attack on the Barakah nuclear power plant, a direct hit could result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment.”
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog called for “maximum restraint” around nuclear centres during conflicts and said the agency was prepared to send nuclear safety and security experts if needed.
Mr Grossi said he had been speaking with leaders across the Gulf region and described widespread “unease and great concern” over the situation.
He said he would travel to the Gulf region soon to continue co-ordination efforts and emergency preparedness work.
US ambassador Mike Waltz questioned Iran's objective in launching drone strikes at the Barakah plantr.
“We have to ask ourselves, what responsible, what sane nation, either directly or indirectly through proxies, sends drone attacks into an active and operating nuclear power plant?”
Iran has launched attacks on the UAE and other Gulf states since the US and Israel began strikes on it on February 28, with energy and economic infrastructure among the main targets. But the Barakah nuclear plant had until now remained untouched.
A drone struck an electrical generator on Sunday outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah nuclear plant in Abu Dhabi, causing a fire but no injuries or radiation leak, authorities said.
Barakah, the Arab world’s only nuclear power plant, is near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia and produces about a quarter of the country’s electricity.
The UAE said on Tuesday that the drones attacking the nuclear plant had originated from Iraq, where Iranian-backed armed groups have launched several attacks since the start of the conflict.
