Drone Strike Sparks Fire at UAE’s Barakah Nuclear Plant; IAEA “Grave Concern”
A drone struck an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the UAE’s Al-Dhafra Region on Sunday, sparking a fire that the Abu Dhabi Media Office said caused no injuries and no radiological release, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation confirmed that the plant’s essential systems are operating normally. The Associated Press said the strike “highlighted the risk of renewed war as the Iran ceasefire remains tenuous”. No group claimed responsibility; the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed “grave concern” and said it is following the situation closely.
UAE Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar told a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday that since 28 February 2026 the UAE has intercepted around 3,000 attacks involving ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones targeting airports, ports, oil and desalination facilities, energy networks and residential areas. The minister said the UAE “reserves its full sovereign, legal, diplomatic, and military rights to respond to any threat, allegation, or hostile act”. The Jerusalem Post analysis frames the Sunday incident as “an Iranian message that it will increase its list of targets in the country”. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who had been a negotiator with the US, has reportedly been re-tasked to handle China-Iran ties following Trump’s recent China visit.