Saudi Arabia said Sunday it had intercepted and destroyed three drones that had entered from Iraqi airspace while Iran has delivered a fresh warning asking the US to lift its blockage of Iranian ports before Sea of Oman becomes their graveyard.
Saudi Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said the drones had entered on Sunday morning and that the ministry "reserves the right to respond at the appropriate time and place".
Turki Al-Maliki said that it would take the necessary operational measures to respond to any attempt to violate its sovereignty and security. Al-Maliki added it will also take action to ensure the safety of citizens and residents on Saudi territory.
While hostilities during the Iran conflict have largely been scaled down since a ceasefire came into effect in April, drones have been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries.
Meanwhile, the UAE strongly condemned the drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, which “originated from Iraqi airspace and were intercepted and destroyed after entering Saudi airspace”, the UAE’s foreign ministry says in a statement.
It added, the ministry affirmed that “these attacks constitute a violation of the sovereignty of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a threat to its security and stability”.
The UAE expressed solidarity with the Kingdom and its support for all measures taken to preserve its security and stability, it says.
Iranian warning
Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Tehran’s Expediency Council and former IRGC commander, has warned the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, saying that the Iranian military is ready for further confrontation, Al Jazeera reports.
Speaking on state television, Rezaei said: “We advise the US military to end the siege before the Sea of Oman becomes your graveyard.”
Rezaei described the US blockade as an “act of war” and said confronting it was Tehran’s right. “The longer they prolong the naval blockade of Iran, the greater the damage to countries around the world will be,” he said.
Drone strike starts fire outside UAE nuclear plant
A drone strike triggered a fire near a nuclear power station in the emirate of Abu Dhabi on Sunday, authorities said, reporting no injuries or impact on radiation levels.
The UAE's defence ministry said the drone that targeted the facility was one of three that "entered the country from the western border direction".
The projectile struck "an electrical generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the Al Dhafra area".
"Investigations are ongoing to determine the source of the attacks, and updates will be disclosed upon completion of the investigations," the ministry added.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash appeared to refer to Iran and its regional proxy groups in his condemnation of the attack.
"The terrorist targeting of the Barakah clean nuclear power plant, whether carried out by the principal perpetrator or through one of its agents, represents a dangerous escalation," he wrote on X.
He called the incident "a dark scene that violates all international laws and norms", accusing the perpetrators of a disregard for the lives of civilians in the UAE.
Iranian-backed armed groups equipped with drones are based in Iraq, while Tehran's allies in Yemen -- the Houthi rebels -- also possess combat-grade UAVs.
The UAE "condemned in the strongest terms the unprovoked terrorist attack" and "will not tolerate any threat to its security and sovereignty under any circumstances", a foreign ministry statement said.
"These attacks constitute a dangerous escalation, an unacceptable act of aggression and a direct threat to the country's security," it added.
UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan held calls with his counterparts in Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Morocco, Egypt and Bahrain after the attack, his office wrote on X.
The ministers condemned the attack and reaffirmed the Gulf nation's "full and legitimate right to respond" to it, his office added.
The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant began operations in 2020 and is 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi, near the borders with Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
It provides up to a quarter of the oil-rich country's electricity needs, the state-owned operator Emirates Nuclear Energy Company said in 2024.
"No injuries were reported, and there was no impact on radiological safety levels," the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. "All precautionary measures have been taken, and further updates will be provided as they become available.
"The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) confirmed that the fire did not affect the safety of the power plant or the readiness of its essential systems, and that all units are operating as normal."
- Trump makes fresh threats -
President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran on Sunday, saying the Islamic republic had to move quickly to end the conflict that has shaken the Middle East and sent energy prices climbing.
"For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!"
The war began February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched major strikes on the Islamic republic, but peace negotiations have stalled since the April 8 ceasefire and sporadic attacks continue.
- Israeli strikes in Lebanon -
An Israeli missile strike on an apartment in eastern Lebanon Sunday killed an Islamic Jihad commander and his 17-year-old daughter, Lebanese state media said. Emergency workers were searching the rubble for survivors of the blast on the outskirts of the city of Baalbek.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon killed five people, including two children, and left at least 15 people wounded, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Israeli attacks since the start of the war have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, including more than 400 since the truce began on April 17, according to Lebanese authorities.
- Israel kills five in Gaza -
Israeli strikes and gunfire on Sunday killed five people in Gaza, where at least 871 people have been killed in persistent violence since an October ceasefire, health officials in the Palestinian territory said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel is has almost achieved its goal of eliminating all those responsible for orchestrating the October 7 attack.
"I promised that every single architect of the massacre and the hostage-taking would be eliminated down to the last one, and we are very close to completing this mission," Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting.
- No US concessions -
Iranian media said Washington had failed to make any concrete concessions in its latest response to Iran's proposed agenda for negotiations to end the war.
The Mehr news agency said: "The United States, offering no tangible concessions, wants to obtain concessions that it failed to obtain during the war, which will lead to an impasse in the negotiations."