Iraq Vows Action After Drone Attacks on UAE Nuclear Site

(MENAFN) Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on Wednesday ordered authorities to pursue accountability against any party found to have used Iraqi soil as a staging ground for drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as regional alarm over cross-border strikes mounted sharply.

Al-Zaidi issued the directive while presiding over the inaugural session of the Iraqi National Security Council, according to Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the Iraqi News Agency reported. The session formally condemned the recent attacks against both Gulf states and established a dedicated committee to coordinate investigations with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

"The meeting addressed the ongoing investigations into the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A special committee was formed to engage with relevant authorities in both countries," al-Numan said.

He added: "The government will not tolerate any individual or group that seeks to threaten the security of Iraq or its brothers and the countries of the region and is committed to taking the necessary measures to protect the country's stability and preserve its sovereignty."

The council session followed by hours a pointed demand from the UAE's Foreign Ministry, which called on Baghdad to "urgently and unconditionally" prevent "all hostile acts" emanating from Iraqi territory — language that signalled growing Gulf frustration with Iraq's ability to police armed factions operating within its borders.

The UAE ministry pulled no punches in its characterisation of the incidents, saying it "condemns in the strongest terms the treacherous terrorist attacks carried out by drones launched from Iraqi territory." It disclosed that one drone had struck a generator outside the perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi on Sunday — a revelation that dramatically raised the stakes of the crisis.

The ministry further expressed the UAE's "strongest condemnation and absolute rejection of the heinous terrorist attacks launched from Iraqi territory targeting vital civilian infrastructure in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries."

The Abu Dhabi Media Office had confirmed Sunday that emergency crews responded to a fire at a generator outside the Barakah facility, without initially disclosing the cause. Separately, Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry announced that three drones entering its airspace from Iraq had been intercepted and destroyed the same day. Baghdad issued a formal condemnation of that attack.

The incidents unfold against a backdrop of simmering regional instability triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, which prompted Tehran to retaliate against Israel and US-allied Gulf states and temporarily shutter the Strait of Hormuz. A Pakistani-mediated ceasefire took hold on April 8, though Islamabad talks broke down without yielding a permanent accord. US President Donald Trump subsequently extended the truce indefinitely, while preserving a blockade on shipping to and from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway.

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