UAE officials deny Israeli reports of strike inside Iran
United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials have denied Israeli media reports that Abu Dhabi took part in an air strike on an Iranian water desalination plant.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Emirati foreign ministry said the country was acting “in a state of defence” in response to attacks from Iran but “does not seek to be drawn into conflicts or escalation”.
The statement came after several Israeli media outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported that the UAE was behind an attack on a desalination facility in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that a freshwater desalination plant had been bombed by the United States on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting water supplies to 30 villages.
Both the US and Israel denied carrying out the attack.
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Emirati officials were also quick to reject claims that the UAE was responsible after Israeli media briefings suggested it may have been involved.
Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, a member of the UAE’s Federal National Council and chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee, described the reports on X as “fake news”.
“When we do something, we have the courage to announce it,” he added.
A senior Emirati official told The Jerusalem Post, one of the outlets that first reported the claim, that Abu Dhabi was “struggling to understand Israeli conduct and the nature of the briefings coming out”.
The official accused Israeli sources of leaking the reports.
“It is not appropriate for what is described as a ‘senior Israeli source’ to speak on our behalf or spread rumours about the actions of another sovereign state,” the source said.
Untrue Israeli reports
Several Israeli media outlets have published similar claims since the war on Iran began last week that later proved to be untrue.
Last week, reports emerged that Qatar had carried out strikes inside Iran, a claim quickly denied by Doha.
Israeli media have also repeatedly reported that Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, were preparing to bomb Iran imminently.
Iran has been striking what it describes as US bases and assets in the Gulf almost daily since the US-Israel war began last week.
Gulf states have condemned the attacks, saying they violate their sovereignty and warning that they reserve the right to respond.
The reported strike on the desalination facility has raised wider concerns about the risks to water infrastructure in the Gulf.
More than 400 desalination plants line the Gulf, accounting for around 60 percent of the world’s desalination capacity.
In the UAE, about 90 percent of drinking water comes from desalination plants. The figure is also around 90 percent in Kuwait, 86 percent in Oman and about 70 percent in Saudi Arabia.
The reported bombing of the Iranian facility came on the same day Israeli air strikes hit fuel storage facilities in Tehran, causing large fires and raising concerns about potential attacks on critical infrastructure as the conflict escalates.
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