UPDATE 2-UAE says drone that hit near its nuclear plant was launched from Iraq

The United ‌Arab ​Emirates said on Tuesday that six drones had been launched against it from Iraq in the past 48 hours, including one that caused a fire at a nuclear power plant in the Gulf state on Sunday.

The UAE's ‌defence ministry said in a statement that it had intercepted all but one of the drones. It said three in total had been targeting the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, which is the Arab world's first commercial nuclear power station. The drone that penetrated the UAE's defences hit an electric generator outside the inner perimeter ‌of the plant, the ministry said.

After that drone strike, the UAE's Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation said the plant remained safe and that no radioactive material ‌had been released due to the attack. Emirati officials have said the UAE has the full right to respond to such "terrorist attacks".

Iraq is home to powerful Iranian-backed militia groups which have claimed attacks against "enemy bases in Iraq and the region" during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Later at the United Nations in New York, the UAE ambassador to the world body, Mohamed Abushahab, ⁠told a ​Security Council meeting called to discuss the ⁠attack on the Barakah plant that it was not an isolated incident.

He did not identify a perpetrator, but said it occurred "in a wider regional context, in which persistent cross-border attacks by one ⁠state and its proxies have pushed the region toward heightened escalation and dangerous confrontation." Russia and China, which have long been supportive of Iran, criticized the attack at the ​Security Council, with China's envoy expressing "great concern" and Russia's U.N. ambassador saying that strikes on peaceful nuclear facilities in any country were "categorically unacceptable."

The head of ⁠the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, told the meeting the attack threatened the nuclear safety of the UAE and caused great concern throughout the Gulf. "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," he said.

"A hit that disabled the lines supplying electrical power to the plant could increase the likelihood of its reactors' cores melting, which could result in a high release of radioactivity." While ⁠hostilities during the Iran conflict have scaled down since a ceasefire came into effect in April, drones have been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries, including ⁠Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia said on ⁠Sunday it had intercepted three drones coming from Iraqi airspace and that it would take any necessary measures in response to efforts to violate its sovereignty and security. Iraq said its air defences had not detected any drones being launched ‌from its airspace.

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