"Will never place Iranian people in same basket": UAE slams reports of attack on Iran's desalination plant

Abu Dhabi [UAE], March 8 (ANI): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday refuted reports of an attack on Iran's desalination plant, emphasising that it will not treat the Iranian people the way the Iranian regime has acted over the past week.
In a post on X, Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, member of the UAE Federal National Council and Chairman of the Defense Affairs, Interior & Foreign Affairs Committee, slammed the reports as "fake news", stating that the country has the "courage" to announce such actions if it had carried them out.
"This is fake news. When we do something, we've the courage to announce it," Al Nuaimi said.
"The UAE will never place the Iranian people in the same basket as the Iranian regime. The Iranian people are the real victims of that regime and the ones who suffer the most from its policies. As neighbours, we recognize this reality and we care about their wellbeing," he further clarified in another post on X.
Earlier, it was reported by The Jerusalem Post suggesting that the United Arab Emirates had targeted an Iranian desalination plant on Sunday, which would have marked its first retaliatory strike in response to Iranian drone and missile attacks amid the ongoing conflict in the region.
However, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday slammed the US for attacks on a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island, stating it's a "blatant and desperate crime" with grave consequences.
In a post on X, Araghchi emphasised that the US has set a dangerous precedent by targeting Iran's infrastructure.
"The U.S. committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran," Araghchi posted on X.
The development comes amid escalated tensions in West Asia, following the death of the 86-year-old Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint military strikes by the US and Israel on February 28. The strikes also killed several senior leaders of the Islamic Republic.
Following this, Tehran, in retaliation, launched counter-strikes targeting American military bases and Israeli assets across the region, including multiple Arab countries. Israel, along with the US, continued its strikes on Tehran, with Tel Aviv widening the conflict to Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militant groups. (ANI)