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Iran is poised to strike critical desalination infrastructure across the Middle East within days, escalating tensions with the U.S. and Israel and triggering global economic fallout, a U.N. official warned Sunday.
Kaveh Madani, an Iranian scientist and U.N. official, said desalination plants across the region could be hit “within the next few days,” raising the prospect of a broader regional water crisis and affecting global markets.
The strike threats made by the regime on Sunday came in response to President Donald Trump’s warning that the U.S. would hit Iranian power infrastructure unless the Strait of Hormuz was opened within 48 hours.
A spokesperson for the Central Headquarters of Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya (PBUH) said, “Following previous warnings, if Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked by the enemy, all energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to the US and the regime in the region will be targeted.”
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U.N. official Kaveh Madani warns desalination plants across the Middle East could be struck within days, risking a regional water crisis and global economic fallout. (ruelleruelle/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“The desalination plants might be targeted again within the next few days,” Madani told Digital.
“The driest region of the world might see a real water war, but the knock-on effects on the world’s economy, including the U.S., will be both immediate and lasting,” Madani said, pointing to what he described as a “new phase in the conflict” involving such critical civilian infrastructure.
“Now, add the possibility of damage to the already fragile water infrastructure, including treatment plants, pumping stations, and distribution networks,” he said. “The consequences would be catastrophic and lasting.”
Kaveh’s warning comes as the conflict — now in its fourth week — has expanded beyond military targets. Desalination facilities, including a plant on Iran’s Qeshm Island and another in Bahrain, have allegedly already been struck.
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Iran threatens to target desalination and energy infrastructure within days, a U.N. official warns, citing lasting consequences for global markets and water supplies. (Gabriela Maj/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Desalination, the process of creating drinkable water from seawater, is critical to supplying water across Israel and many of Iran’s Gulf neighbors, particularly in such arid regions where natural freshwater is scarce.
Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, echoed the regime’s threats in a post on X on Sunday, warning that “critical infrastructure, energy, and oil across the region will be irreversibly destroyed, and oil prices will rise for a long time” if Iran’s power plants are struck.
“With a blackout, water treatment and distribution systems will also collapse in some parts of the country,” Madani clarified.
“Iran will retaliate by attacking desalination, energy, and other energy-related infrastructure in all countries in the region that are parties to the war, including Israel,” he added. “The price of oil and gas will increase further, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, while a humanitarian disaster is created as millions of people lose access to water and electricity in the region.”
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An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, December 10, 2023. (Stringer/File Photo/Reuters)
“The U.S. has allegedly already attacked a desalination plant in Qeshm Island, and the Iranians have allegedly responded by striking a plant in Bahrain,” he said.
“Iran is the least reliant on desalination plants, so it is explicitly including them as legitimate targets for retaliation because this is the biggest vulnerability of the other parties to the war across the Middle East,” he added.
Despite that relative advantage, Iran itself has faced years of severe drought, mismanagement of water resources, and declining groundwater levels, leaving parts of the country increasingly water-stressed.
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“If Iranians run out of water and/or electricity, they won’t rise up,” Holly Dagres, Libitzky Family Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said.
“The unfortunate truth is that the Islamic Republic would rather allow the country to burn than appear weak while it is facing an existential threat,” she said.
