How water could become a new frontline in the war on Iran
Attacks on water desalination plants could mark a dangerous new phase in the US-Israeli war on Iran, with severe humanitarian and environmental consequences
Paul Iddon
11 March, 2026
The New Arab
As the US-Israeli war with Iran continues into its second week, Iran and the island kingdom of Bahrain in the Gulf have both said that their water desalination plants have been hit.
Analysts warn that if strikes against such critical facilities continue or escalate, there could be severe consequences for the millions of people who rely on them for potable water.
The day after Iran claimed that a US airstrike hit one of its desalination plants, Bahrain accused Iran on Sunday of damaging one of its own facilities.
Tehran has targeted US bases and civilian infrastructure in all of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, including Bahrain, since the war began with US-Israeli strikes on 28 February.
Desalination plants, which remove salt from seawater to produce essential drinkable freshwater, are critical for sustaining population centres in the arid Gulf region, home to bustling cities which heavily depend on them to function, much less thrive.
Therefore, targeting them could prove more devastating for these states and their civilian populations than attacks on other critical infrastructure and energy facilities, which Iran has already done from the beginning of this war.
“Crippling desalination plants in countries without other supplies of fresh water is obviously an existential threat to their populations,” Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington and founder of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council, told The New Arab.
“I think the attack on Bahrain was a response to an Israeli strike on a small Iranian desalination plant on Qeshm Island, which cut off the water supply for 30 villages, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.”
Slavin cited a Saturday post on Araghchi’s X account in which he insisted, among other things, that this precedent was set by the US rather than Iran, calling it a “dangerous move with grave consequences”. The US military’s Central Command officially denied it targeted the Iranian plant, leaving Slavin to reason it might’ve actually been Israel that executed that particular strike.
“The Iranian response was a warning of what could come if the US and Israel do not swiftly end this war,” she said. “It will increase pressure by the GCC states on the US and Israel to end the attacks, which have already caused ruinous increases in the price of oil, frightened away tourists and businesspeople and affected the ability of some Gulf states to obtain other necessities of life.”
Recent days have seen worrying signs of more attacks that could adversely affect the environment and affect millions indiscriminately. Over the weekend, Israeli strikes on oil depots in Iran’s capital, Tehran, sparked huge fires, darkening the skies over that sprawling metropolis and causing it to rain oil.
“In the short term, attacks on energy facilities might be seen as more sensitive, but many will understand that in the long term, water is even more important,” Arash Azizi, a lecturer at Yale University and author of 'The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran’s Global Ambitions', told TNA.
Analysts warn that if strikes against critical facilities such as water desalination plants continue or escalate, there could be severe regional consequences. [Getty]
“Attacks on desalination plants would mark a terrible precedent that could lead to an environmental disaster,” Azizi said. “The region’s water problems are bad enough as it is, especially in the case of Iran. But bringing water into the war could have effects that last for generations. There should be an effort on all sides to put a stop to it.”
The targeting of any desalination plants undoubtedly constitutes a war crime, given the dire humanitarian impact that doing so could have for untold numbers of civilians.
“International humanitarian law explicitly protects objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including drinking water installations,” Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, told TNA.
“Targeting desalination plants that supply civilian populations risks violating these principles and sets a very dangerous precedent.”
Madani noted that these plants serve as the “lifeline of drinking water” across the region affected by this conflict, which is also one of the “most water-stressed regions” worldwide.
“Repeated attacks on these facilities would not only threaten water security for millions of civilians, but also risk triggering humanitarian and environmental consequences that extend far beyond the battlefield,” he said.
“Attacks on desalination plants would mark a terrible precedent that could lead to an environmental disaster,” Azizi said. “The region’s water problems are bad enough as it is, especially in the case of Iran. But bringing water into the war could have effects that last for generations. There should be an effort on all sides to put a stop to it.”
The targeting of any desalination plants undoubtedly constitutes a war crime, given the dire humanitarian impact that doing so could have for untold numbers of civilians.
“International humanitarian law explicitly protects objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, including drinking water installations,” Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, told TNA.
“Targeting desalination plants that supply civilian populations risks violating these principles and sets a very dangerous precedent.”
Madani noted that these plants serve as the “lifeline of drinking water” across the region affected by this conflict, which is also one of the “most water-stressed regions” worldwide.
“Repeated attacks on these facilities would not only threaten water security for millions of civilians, but also risk triggering humanitarian and environmental consequences that extend far beyond the battlefield,” he said.
Ibrahim Al-Marashi
Aside from being one of the most water-stressed regions, the Gulf is also the most “desalination-dependent”.
“All the countries involved rely on desalination for their drinking water,” Madani added. “Disrupting these systems, even temporarily, can quickly translate into civilian water shortages.”
Iran and Bahrain claimed their respective plants suffered damage rather than outright destruction. Still, that’s enough to adversely affect their vital functions.
“Desalination plants are complex systems that cannot always be repaired overnight,” Madani said. “Even limited damage can disrupt water supplies for large populations, and rebuilding or restoring capacity can take time, expertise, and specialised equipment, especially under conflict conditions.”
While much of the focus has been on oil and energy markets, water is another vital resource that could be impacted by the war on Iran. [Getty]
Iran was already in the throes of a severe water crisis. The situation was so dire that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in November that Iran needed to relocate its capital from the overpopulated Tehran, since the “water problem” there had become unsolvable. Madani, who is also the Former Deputy Head of Iran’s Department of Environment, has long warned that decades of mismanaging vital water resources would lead to this unthinkable outcome.
“When it comes to freshwater access, Iran is the richest party to this conflict in the region and the least reliant on desalination compared to Israel and the GCC states,” he said. “Yet it is the one whose desalination infrastructure has reportedly been damaged the most in this war.”
How long this war will drag on remains unclear. So long as it does, however, the capacity of these countries to repair and restore any damaged desalination plants will undoubtedly prove substantially more limited than it otherwise would in peacetime.
Furthermore, direct attacks on these plants aren’t the only thing that could fatally undermine their crucial ability to produce freshwater for the millions of people who depend on it for sustenance and survival.
“People often focus on direct missile or drone attacks,” Madani said. “But desalination can also be disrupted through pollution incidents - for example, if an attack on an oil tanker contaminates seawater near the intake of desalination plants,” he added.
“We should be extremely concerned about such risks, even if desalination plants are not directly targeted.”
Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist based in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, who writes about Middle East affairs
Follow him on X: @pauliddon
Edited by Charlie Hoyle
Iran was already in the throes of a severe water crisis. The situation was so dire that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in November that Iran needed to relocate its capital from the overpopulated Tehran, since the “water problem” there had become unsolvable. Madani, who is also the Former Deputy Head of Iran’s Department of Environment, has long warned that decades of mismanaging vital water resources would lead to this unthinkable outcome.
“When it comes to freshwater access, Iran is the richest party to this conflict in the region and the least reliant on desalination compared to Israel and the GCC states,” he said. “Yet it is the one whose desalination infrastructure has reportedly been damaged the most in this war.”
How long this war will drag on remains unclear. So long as it does, however, the capacity of these countries to repair and restore any damaged desalination plants will undoubtedly prove substantially more limited than it otherwise would in peacetime.
Furthermore, direct attacks on these plants aren’t the only thing that could fatally undermine their crucial ability to produce freshwater for the millions of people who depend on it for sustenance and survival.
“People often focus on direct missile or drone attacks,” Madani said. “But desalination can also be disrupted through pollution incidents - for example, if an attack on an oil tanker contaminates seawater near the intake of desalination plants,” he added.
“We should be extremely concerned about such risks, even if desalination plants are not directly targeted.”
Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist based in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, who writes about Middle East affairs
Follow him on X: @pauliddon
Edited by Charlie Hoyle
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