US strikes on Iranian desalination plant trigger regional retaliation
Central Command targets military logistics while Iran’s IRGC responds with strikes on Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan, escalating a conflict that began with the collapse of a recent peace deal.
A seventh consecutive night of United States military strikes on targets across Iran has resulted in the destruction of a critical desalination plant, leaving 10,000 people without water and depriving 20 villages of their supply. The attack on the Bunji desalination plant in Jask, southern Iran, targeted a seawater pumping station and power transformer, which were described as completely destroyed by Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company.
In response to the operations, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched waves of drones and missiles at civilian and military infrastructure in allied Gulf states. Kuwait reported that two power and water desalination plants were hit, prompting the closure of its airspace. Several firefighters were wounded while responding to fires sparked by the strikes, according to the country’s firefighting force.
Bahrain experienced repeated air raid sirens as authorities urged residents to seek shelter. Meanwhile, Jordanian authorities stated they had intercepted 10 Iranian ballistic missiles. The IRGC claimed responsibility for targeting US assets in the region, including a military fuel pier at Kuwait’s al-Ahmadi port, a warplane assembly site at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base, and a base in Azraq, Jordan, where it claimed to have destroyed two American fighter jets.
The escalation follows the announcement by US Central Command (CENTCOM) that its overnight operations targeted surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities within Iran. The conflict has intensified significantly since US President Donald Trump declared at the NATO summit in Ankara 10 days ago that a memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June was over.
President Trump’s declaration came after Iranian attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz. He reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports and revoked sanctions waivers on Iranian oil exports, asserting that the strait must remain open to all traffic. However, Tehran maintains that under the interim peace deal, it retains the right to control maritime traffic in the vital energy channel. Despite the expanded scope and intensity of US attacks, Iranian officials have warned they will respond in kind, accusing Washington of targeting civilian infrastructure and committing war crimes.
