The ongoing war between America and Iran has now reached the plants that sweeten sea water. Iran claims that the US destroyed a desalination plant in an airstrike in the Bonji area of Hormozgan province, due to which the water supply to about 10 thousand people came to a standstill. On the other hand, Kuwait has alleged that Iran targeted one of its power-water desalination plants for the second consecutive day, causing a fire there. Nearly 90 percent of Kuwait’s drinking water needs are met by these plants, hence an attack on them is being considered very dangerous for this small desert country.
How many Gulf countries will be affected?
The drinking water needs of most of the countries in the Middle East are met only by desalination plants, hence attacks on them are directly related to the lives of common people.
- Kuwait and Oman meet about 90% of their water needs through desalination.
- In Bahrain this figure is around 85%.
- Saudi Arabia fulfills about 70% of its water needs through this process.
- Big cities like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City and Jeddah are completely dependent on these plants.
- Iran is relatively less dependent on desalination, but it is an important source of water in drought-affected coastal areas.
There are about 400 desalination plants in the Gulf region, which produce about 40 percent of the world’s total desalinated water and this area is counted among the driest regions in the world, where water availability is about 10 times less than the global average. This is the reason why experts consider attacks on these plants as a very sensitive issue for the entire region.
What is desalination plant, how does it work?
Sea water is first brought to the desalination plant through large pipes. Initially it is filtered in several stages, so that sand, algae, plastic and other impurities are removed.
After this, mainly two techniques are used to remove salt from water.
1. Reverse Osmosis (RO)- In this, water is passed through a special membrane under very high pressure, which traps salt and dissolved substances.
2. Thermal Distillation- In this, steam is created by heating sea water, then that steam is cooled and converted into pure water.
After this, essential minerals like calcium and magnesium are added to the pure water, so that it becomes potable and safe for health. Finally the water is disinfected and transported through pipelines to homes, cities and industries.
When did the attacks happen before?
Desalination infrastructure in the Gulf region has been targeted several times since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran in February 2026.
28 February 2026- America and Israel’s military campaign against Iran began, after which attacks on infrastructure in the region intensified.
7 March 2026- Iran alleged that the US attacked the desalination plant on Qeshm Island located in the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the water supply of about 30 villages. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called this a dangerous example set by America. Both America and Israel denied this attack.
8 March 2026- Bahrain claimed that the Iranian drone attack damaged one of its desalination plants and injured three people. Meanwhile, there were also reports of Iranian drone attacks on the power-water plant in Fujairah in UAE and two desalination plants in Kuwait, which Iran denied.
30 March 2026- Kuwait said an attack damaged the service building of its power-desalination plant, killing an Indian employee.
3 April 2026- Kuwait again confirms attack on a power-desalination plant.
6 April 2026- Israel admitted to attacking Iran’s Pars Petrochemical Complex in Asaluyeh, Iran claimed that power and desalination plants associated with it were also damaged.
8 April 2026- A temporary ceasefire was implemented with the mediation of Pakistan, which stopped the violence for some time.
17-18 July 2026- After the ceasefire was broken again a fierce clash took place. Kuwait said that on two consecutive days, its different power-water desalination plants were attacked, which caused fires and many power generation units had to be shut down as a precaution. Meanwhile, news came that a desalination and power plant was targeted in an American air strike in the Bonji area of Hormozgan province of Iran.
Is attacking a water plant a violation of rules?
Iran’s water industry spokesman Isa Bozorgzadeh called the US attack a war crime. Under international humanitarian law, water-related infrastructure, such as drinking water installations, treatment plants and pipelines, are considered civilian property and cannot be legitimate targets during war. Non-binding principles called the “Berlin Rules on Water Resources,” developed by the International Law Association (ILA) and adopted in 2004, clearly state that belligerent states should refrain from destroying water infrastructure if an attack would cause disproportionate or excessive suffering to civilians.
How much damage did Iran suffer?
The reservoirs that were attacked in Hormozgan province provide drinking water to more than 20,000 residents of Kohestak city and 10 surrounding villages. According to Iranian news agency WANA, in initial estimates this loss has been estimated between 7.8 lakh to 8.3 lakh dollars. Iran was suffering from drought for many years even before the US-Israel war started. Iran’s main water sources, reservoirs, rivers and groundwater reserves, were already drying up due to poor agricultural practices and mismanagement, so attacks on water infrastructure during the war have deepened the crisis.
Also read- Will the Iran-America war quench the thirst? Know why Gulf countries are in tension
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