Iran threatens mass ‘water war’ with strikes on key plants in days, UN official warns

Iran is poised to onslaught captious desalination infrastructure crossed nan Middle East wrong days, escalating tensions pinch nan U.S. and Israel and triggering world economical fallout, a U.N. charismatic warned Sunday.

Kaveh Madani, an Iranian intelligence and U.N. official, said desalination plants crossed nan region could beryllium deed "within nan adjacent fewer days," raising nan imaginable of a broader location h2o situation and affecting world markets.

The onslaught threats made by nan authorities connected Sunday came successful consequence to President Donald Trump's warning that nan U.S. would deed Iranian powerfulness infrastructure unless nan Strait of Hormuz was opened wrong 48 hours.

A spokesperson for nan Central Headquarters of Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya (PBUH) said, "Following erstwhile warnings, if Iran’s substance and power infrastructure is attacked by nan enemy, each energy, accusation technology, and desalination infrastructure belonging to nan US and nan authorities successful nan region will beryllium targeted."

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U.N. charismatic Kaveh Madani warns desalination plants crossed nan Middle East could beryllium struck wrong days, risking a location h2o situation and world economical fallout. (ruelleruelle/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

"The desalination plants mightiness beryllium targeted again wrong nan adjacent fewer days," Madani told Fox News Digital.

"The driest region of nan world mightiness spot a existent h2o war, but nan knock-on effects connected nan world’s economy, including nan U.S., will beryllium some contiguous and lasting," Madani said, pointing to what he described arsenic a "new shape successful nan conflict" involving specified captious civilian infrastructure.

"Now, adhd nan anticipation of harm to nan already vulnerable water infrastructure, including curen plants, pumping stations, and distribution networks," he said. "The consequences would beryllium catastrophic and lasting."

Kaveh’s informing comes arsenic nan conflict — now successful its 4th week — has expanded beyond subject targets. Desalination facilities, including a works connected Iran’s Qeshm Island and different successful Bahrain, person allegedly already been struck.

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Iran threatens to target desalination and power infrastructure wrong days, a U.N. charismatic warns, citing lasting consequences for world markets and h2o supplies. (Gabriela Maj/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Desalination, nan process of creating drinkable h2o from seawater, is captious to supplying h2o crossed Israel and galore of Iran’s Gulf neighbors, peculiarly successful specified arid regions wherever earthy freshwater is scarce.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of nan Iranian parliament, echoed nan regime’s threats successful a station connected X connected Sunday, informing that "critical infrastructure, energy, and lipid crossed nan region will beryllium irreversibly destroyed, and lipid prices will emergence for a agelong time" if Iran’s powerfulness plants are struck.

"With a blackout, h2o curen and distribution systems will besides illness successful immoderate parts of nan country," Madani clarified.

"Iran will retaliate by attacking desalination, energy, and different energy-related infrastructure successful each countries successful nan region that are parties to nan war, including Israel," he added. "The value of lipid and state will summation further, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, while a humanitarian disaster is created arsenic millions of group suffer entree to h2o and energy successful nan region."

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An aerial position of nan land of Qeshm, separated from nan Iranian mainland by nan Clarence Strait, December 10, 2023.  (Stringer/File Photo/Reuters)

"The U.S. has allegedly already attacked a desalination works successful Qeshm Island, and nan Iranians person allegedly responded by striking a works successful Bahrain," he said.

"Iran is nan slightest reliant connected desalination plants, truthful it is explicitly including them arsenic morganatic targets for retaliation because this is nan biggest vulnerability of nan different parties to nan warfare crossed nan Middle East," he added.

Despite that comparative advantage, Iran itself has faced years of severe drought, mismanagement of h2o resources, and declining groundwater levels, leaving parts of nan state progressively water-stressed.

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"If Iranians tally retired of h2o and/or electricity, they won’t emergence up," Holly Dagres, Libitzky Family Senior Fellow astatine nan Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said.

"The unfortunate truth is that nan Islamic Republic would alternatively let nan state to pain than look anemic while it is facing an existential threat," she said.