Overview
- President Trump, in a Truth Social post on Monday, threatened to obliterate Iranian infrastructure including power, oil, and possibly all desalination plants.
- Iranian officials say a Qeshm Island desalination plant is now completely out of service after a March 7 strike they blame on the United States, a charge the U.S. denies.
- Legal experts warn that attacking facilities that supply drinking water would violate the Geneva Conventions and could amount to a war crime.
- Regional governments have privately urged Washington to avoid such targets because states like Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar rely on desalination for most drinking water.
- Reports of damage to water and power sites in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Iran have turned desalination plants into pressure points in the fight over the Strait of Hormuz.