US tells Iran 'clock is ticking' as UAE nuclear plant targeted

Eltaf Najafizada, Bloomberg News on May 18, 2026

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U.S. President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Iran and told it the “clock is ticking,” hours after drones targeted a nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates.

Tehran “better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday. These were his most belligerent comments regarding the Iran war, which remains in a fragile ceasefire, since he returned to the U.S. from China on Friday.

The fresh threats helped push up oil prices further on Monday, with Brent crude climbing around 1.5% to $110.70 a barrel. A selloff in global bonds that started late last week worsened, as investors price in faster inflation and raise bets that central banks will be forced to lift interest rates. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields are now above 4.5% and at their highest in around 15 months, putting more pressure on Trump to try to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier on Sunday, a drone sparked a fire in a power station at the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear plant, underscoring the fragility of the truce. It was launched from the west of the UAE, according to the country’s defense ministry, which added that two other drones were intercepted. There was no radiological impact, Abu Dhabi’s media office said.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed three drones that entered its airspace on Sunday from Iraq, which has many Iran-backed militias. It was unclear if those were part of the attack on the UAE.

“The terrorist attack on the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, whether perpetrated by the principal or through one of its proxies, represents a dangerous escalation and a dark chapter that violates all international laws and norms,” Anwar Gargash, a senior foreign-policy adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, said on X. “This reprehensible escalation reaffirms the nature of the challenges facing the region in confronting the forces of evil, chaos, and sabotage.”

Iran has made no public comment on the attacks.

The UAE has been the most aggressive of the Arab states toward Iran both in rhetoric and carrying out limited attacks on the Islamic Republic before the ceasefire began on April 8, Bloomberg has reported.

Over the weekend, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said the U.S. had set five main conditions for a peace deal. They included Iran transferring enriched uranium to the U.S., while Washington would not provide any war reparations and would unfreeze less than a quarter of Tehran’s frozen assets. The U.S. hasn’t publicly commented on the reported terms.

Iran has called for reparations and the unfreezing of assets before accepting a peace deal. It also wants the U.S. to end a blockade on Iranian ports and for Washington to accept Tehran having a measure of control over shipping traffic through the Hormuz strait.

“We want to make a deal,” Trump told Axios on Sunday, adding he’s waiting for an updated Iranian proposal. “They are not where we want them to be. They will have to get there or they will be hit badly, and they don’t want that.”

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began in late February and has claimed thousands of lives, mainly in the Islamic Republic and Lebanon. Retaliatory attacks by Tehran targeted U.S. allies across the Gulf, including the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel.

Here’s more related to the war:

•Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to visit China on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he is expected to discuss the Iran war with Xi.

•U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on the G-7 nations and others to increase sanctions on Iran as the conflict drags on without an end in sight.