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Water Emerges as a Dangerous New War Target
Attacks on desalination plants risk disrupting water for millions and impacting economies; 42% of global capacity is in the Middle East, experts warn of severe consequences.
- Authorities in Manama said Sunday that Bahrain's interior ministry accused Iran of damaging a desalination plant with an Iranian drone, amid regional tensions.
- About 42 percent of the world's desalination capacity is located in the Middle East, which has water availability about 10 times lower than the global average.
- Most desalination plants are interconnected and hold reserves of two to seven days, while operators say they are vulnerable to power outages and oil spills; the CIA warned disrupting them could have serious consequences, referencing the Gulf War 1991.
- Authorities and operators have responded by strengthening access security and controls around plants, while Bahrain's national communication office said the attack had no impact on water supplies and network capacity.
- Crauser-Delbourg warned that longer outages could trigger a war far larger than the present conflict, saying 'Over there, without desalinated water there, there is nothing'.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Attacks on water systems emerge as a dangerous new war threat in Middle East
Paris — Attacks on water systems are uncommon in wartime, but they have appeared in the war in the Middle East with strikes on desalination plants — critical infrastructure for millions of people in the arid region.
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Water emerges as a dangerous new war target
Attacks on water systems are uncommon in wartime, but they have appeared in the war in the Middle East with strikes on desalination plants -- critical infrastructure for millions of people in the arid region.
Dissalination tools have become targets of attacks during the conflict
Middle East Tensions Escalate: Desalination Plants and Oil Depots Targeted Amidst Widening Conflict
Middle East Tensions Escalate: Desalination Plants and Oil Depots Targeted Amidst Widening Conflict Escalating violence in the Middle East has increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure, with recent accusations from Bahrain that Iran attacked vital desalination plants crucial for Gulf nations' water supply. Concurrently, airstrikes have ignited oil depots in Tehran, prompting serious environmental warnings.The Arab League, expressing its incr…
Bahrain's authorities accuse Iran of having damaged a seawater desalination plant with a drone attack on Sunday, 8 March. So far relatively spared by the conflict, these facilities are very strategic in the region, of which they provide the majority of the fresh water.
Water desalination plants were just some of the infrastructure targets hit across the Middle East over the weekend, as the conflict enters its second week.
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