Why water supplies may be the new front line in the Middle East war

Water treatment centres in the Persian Gulf region are under threat amid the Iran war, with desalination plants in areas like Bahrain taking damage from strikes.

Water treatment centres in the Persian Gulf region are under threat amid the Iran war, with desalination plants in areas like Bahrain taking damage from strikes and threatening the local water supply.

Unlike attacks on military bases, personnel and equipment, attacks on energy and especially civilian infrastructure are a new front line in the war, which at least one expert says crosses a red line.

“It’s alarming that these types of infrastructure are targeted,” says Mohammed Mahmoud, lead for Middle East climate and water policy at the United Nations University Institute of Water, Environment and Health.

“It is a red line in a sea of red lines, unfortunately, that happens during war, attacking civilian infrastructure like water infrastructure, because it directly has an impact on civilian populations to survive, and to me, that’s concerning.”

On March 8, Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though it didn’t say supplies had gone offline.

The island nation, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been among the countries targeted by Iranian drones and missiles.

Earlier, Iran said a U.S. airstrike damaged an Iranian desalination plant.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said the strike on Iran’s plant had cut into the water supply for 30 villages. He warned that in doing so “the U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.”