The economic life that is affected, the water war is declared in the Middle East

Are we heading towards a war over water? In the Middle East, Iran is now targeting desalination plants in the Gulf, which are strategic infrastructures as they provide over 90% of the drinking water in Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman. This is vital production for the region’s inhabitants.

In the very arid Gulf countries, supplied with water by hundreds of desalination plants, the ingredients of this water war in the Middle East are set. On Monday, March 30, a drone attacked one of Kuwait’s plants, resulting in a casualty. Iran denies being behind the attack and blames Israel.

These civilian infrastructures are crucial for all these countries. Drawing and treating water from the sea is vital for 61 million people. Since the start of the war, at least four plants have been targeted in Iran, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. These strikes could be considered war crimes.

“These desalination plants are essential for the lives of populations, for industrial water uses, for technical uses like cooling, oil extraction, refining, so it affects the entire economy,” said Franck Galland, a researcher associated with the Foundation for Strategic Research. For example, Kuwait relies on 90% of these desalination plants. The numbers for most other Gulf countries are also very high.

However, Iran also faces a huge water and drought problem. This is a weakness that Donald Trump is exploiting. If negotiations with Tehran do not progress quickly, he threatens: “We will conclude our lovely visit to Iran by blowing up […], perhaps all desalination plants.” Water is the new weapon of war in the Middle East.