NEW DELHI: A drone attack on the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant has intensified fears of a wider regional escalation, with analysts warning that Iran-backed militias in Iraq are emerging as a key front in Tehran’s confrontation with the US and Israel.
The United Arab Emirates said the attack targeting the Barakah plant on Sunday originated from Iraq and condemned it as a “terrorist” act. Senior presidential adviser Anwar Gargash blamed “Iranian militias in Iraq” for the incident in a social media post.
Calling the strike alarming, Gargash said it was “a grave indicator of the scale of the threat facing the region.” The attack forced the plant to activate backup power systems, considered one of the final safeguards for maintaining nuclear safety.
Barakah is the Middle East’s largest nuclear power plant and one of only two operational facilities in the region, alongside Iran’s Bushehr plant. While authorities reported no casualties or abnormal radiation levels, the incident highlighted the vulnerability of critical civilian infrastructure amid rising tensions.
Analysts quoted by Bloomberg warned that the attack appeared to be a signal from Tehran as uncertainty grows over the future of the fragile ceasefire between Iran, Israel and the United States.
“This was a warning shot by Iran,” Mohammed Baharoon, director of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center, or B’huth, told Bloomberg. “It’s also a way for Iran to keep pressure on Gulf states and tell them ‘you won’t be immune and even if we don’t attack you directly, our proxies will’,” he added.
