US-Israel war in Gulf threatens desalination plants vital to region
Missile strikes near water facilities raise fears millions could lose drinking supplies across Persian Gulf states
TEHRAN, Iran (MNTV) — The escalating war between Iran, the United States, and Israel is raising growing concerns about a rarely discussed but critical vulnerability in the Persian Gulf: desalination plants that supply drinking water to tens of millions of people across the region.
While global attention has largely focused on oil exports and shipping routes, analysts warn that water infrastructure may be even more exposed as missiles and drones strike ports, energy facilities and urban areas along the Gulf coastline.
Hundreds of desalination plants line the shores of the Persian Gulf, converting seawater into freshwater that sustains cities, industries and agriculture in one of the world’s driest regions. Without these plants, many Gulf cities could not maintain their current populations.
A U.S. airstrike struck a freshwater desalination facility on Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting water supplies to a significant population.
Recent attacks have brought the risk sharply into focus. Bahrain said an Iranian drone strike damaged a desalination facility that supplies water to residents, though officials said the system remained operational.
Experts say the region’s heavy dependence on desalination creates a major strategic vulnerability. In Kuwait, roughly 90 percent of drinking water comes from desalinated seawater, while Oman relies on desalination for about 86 percent of its supply and Saudi Arabia for about 70 percent.
The situation has been further complicated by strikes near major infrastructure sites. Alleged Iranian attacks on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port earlier in the war landed about 12 miles from one of the world’s largest desalination facilities, which produces much of the city’s drinking water.
Other damage has been reported near the Fujairah F1 power and water complex in the United Arab Emirates and at Kuwait’s Doha West desalination plant, highlighting how even nearby explosions or debris from intercepted drones can disrupt water systems.
Many desalination facilities are connected to electricity plants in co-generation complexes, meaning attacks on power grids or fuel infrastructure could also halt water production.
Analysts say that damaging any part of the system — including intake pipes, treatment units or energy supplies — can interrupt the entire process.
Security analysts warn that targeting water systems could become an indirect way to pressure Gulf governments that host American military bases without directly confronting the United States or Israel.
Long-standing concerns about this vulnerability date back decades. A 2010 analysis by the CIA warned that attacks on desalination plants could trigger national crises in several Gulf countries and potentially leave cities without drinking water for days or weeks if major facilities were destroyed.
The current war is also highlighting broader environmental pressures on regional water supplies. Climate change, rising sea temperatures, and increasingly severe storms could threaten coastal desalination plants even without military attacks.
Iran itself faces serious water challenges. Years of drought have reduced reservoir levels around Tehran, and the country relies far less on desalination than its Gulf neighbors, instead drawing most water from rivers, reservoirs and underground aquifers.
As the conflict spreads across the Middle East, analysts warn that strikes on water infrastructure could transform the war from an energy crisis into a humanitarian one — placing the basic survival of millions of people at risk.
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