ABU DHABI,— The International Atomic Energy Agency is providing both technical assistance and moral support to the United Arab Emirates following last month’s drone attack on a nuclear facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday after visiting the site.

Grossi said UAE authorities responded swiftly after the incident at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. He said a reactor was shut down because external power had been lost following the attack.

The Barakah facility, described as the Arab world’s first commercial nuclear power station, was targeted by drones last month. The UAE said the attack originated from Iraq.

Emirati officials said a drone that breached the country’s defenses struck an electric generator located outside the plant’s inner perimeter.

The UAE’s defense ministry said three drones had been directed at the facility and that two of them were intercepted.

Grossi said further work would be carried out as part of the repair process at the plant. Speaking to Reuters, he said the required work could take a matter of weeks before completion.

He said repairs involved physical damage at the site as well as maintenance work on an external power line.

“The repairs are under way already,” Grossi said.

Following the attack, the UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation said the facility remained safe and that no radioactive material had been released as a result of the incident.

Although hostilities have largely eased since a ceasefire took effect in April, drones have continued to be launched from Iraq toward Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Iraq hosts Iranian-backed militia groups that have claimed responsibility for attacks against what they described as “enemy bases in Iraq and the region” during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Grossi reiterated that repair activities at the site were progressing and that support from the IAEA to the UAE would continue during the recovery process.

(With files from Reuters)

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