Experts warn of attacks on desalination plants

Experts warn of escalation in the Iran war

“Far worse than an attack on the oil facilities”

Oil tanks are burning in the Middle East, US military bases are being attacked by Iran. But attacks on water facilities could cause even greater damage.

The Iran War has already caused great economic damage through attacks on oil facilities. But an even worse scenario is looming, especially for the region. Experts warn of attacks on water infrastructure.

“Around 100 million people in the Gulf region rely on desalination plants for their water supply,” wrote American Middle East history professor Chris Low of the University of Utah. “Without them, almost no one could live in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – or much of Saudi Arabia, including the capital Riyadh.”

In the entire Arabian Peninsula there is not a single river that carries water all year round. Only Oman and Yemen have a handful of small, often brackish natural lakes. In Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the majority of freshwater supplies come from a variety of aquifers.

However, many of these are severely overexploited and are being depleted at a rate far beyond what nature can replenish. The total renewable surface and groundwater resources of the six GCC countries Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman together amount to 7.21 billion cubic meters per year – around a third of Germany’s water consumption.

In the first days of the war, two desalination plants in Iran and Bahrain were attacked. Iran condemned the attack, but threatened to attack facilities in Gulf states.

Professor Kaveh Madani, director at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, told Australia’s ABC program “The World” that water has become a matter of “national security” in the conflict in the Middle East. The “strategy of retaliation” would primarily harm civilians who have no control over it.” “So far we are seeing that civilians are paying the price,” he said. “We have never seen threats of this magnitude.” He said some Gulf states would only have a few days – or at most a few weeks – of water available if a large desalination plant were attacked. “Water is the new oil of the Gulf,” wrote Time magazine in January.