Overview
- Two Gulf officials told AFP on Thursday that Iran used intermediaries to warn it would target regional electricity networks and desalination plants if the United States attacked Iranian power facilities.
- Officials said Tehran provided a list of potential targets and framed retaliation as striking the same types of infrastructure country by country.
- The warning followed President Donald Trump's public threats to hit Iranian energy sites and came after he called off planned strikes following requests from Gulf governments and a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
- Neither Iran nor the U.S. has officially confirmed the reported messages so the claims rest on anonymous Gulf sources and should be treated as unverified intelligence-level reporting.
- Analysts and Gulf governments warn such attacks could quickly disrupt shipping, raise oil prices, and cut water and power to civilians in arid states, worsening humanitarian and economic strain while diplomacy continues.