US Strikes Hit Water Desalination Plant and Highway Bridges in Iran's Hormozgan Province, Cutting Drinking Water to 10,000 People (July 2026)

What Happened

In the second week of the renewed US campaign against Iran (see the July 2026 collapse entry), US strikes moved beyond missile, radar and naval targets to transport and utility infrastructure in Hormozgan province, the coastal province bordering the Strait of Hormuz.

On July 17, the Associated Press reported US strikes on bridges in Hormozgan, on energy and power infrastructure in southern Iranian provinces, and and that a tower at Chabahar port had collapsed (citing the state-run IRNA agency). Iranian state television reported at least seven people killed in the bridge strikes.

On July 18, AP, citing Iranian state television, reported that US airstrikes had hit "an electricity and desalination plant" in Hormozgan, and that overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting one of the main highways toward Bandar Abbas, Iran's main port; AP said the strikes on highway and railway bridges seemed aimed at cutting off the port. Citing Iranian authorities, AP reported eight people killed in a strike on a bridge on Friday, July 17.

Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, said a seawater pumping station and power transformer serving the Bunji desalination plant in Jask were "completely destroyed," and said: "The supply of drinking water to 20 villages with a population of approximately 10,000 people has been completely disrupted" (Middle East Eye).

US Central Command described the night as its seventh consecutive wave of strikes, which AP quoted as having hit "surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities." That description did not mention water or power infrastructure.

On July 20, UN News noted "a reported strike on a water desalination plant in Hormozgan province" that "disrupted safe drinking water supply for thousands." UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said "immediate de-escalation is essential" and that all parties must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.

Iran's Strikes on Kuwait

The same week, Iran struck a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait, causing a fire that forced several power generation units offline; several firefighters and a worker were injured battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, AP reported. Kuwait draws about 90 percent of its drinking water from desalination. That attack raises the same legal concerns set out below and is noted here for completeness; this archive documents US conduct.

Legal Analysis

Drinking Water Is Specially Protected

Article 54(2) of Additional Protocol I — reflected in customary international humanitarian law as ICRC Rule 54 — prohibits attacking, destroying or rendering useless "objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population," and names "drinking water installations and supplies" expressly. The prohibition applies regardless of motive unless the object is used solely to sustain the adversary's armed forces or in direct support of military action. A seawater pumping station supplying 20 villages is the paradigm of a protected object. The United States is not a party to Protocol I; the ICRC's customary-law study states the rule as binding in all armed conflicts.

Dual-Use Power Infrastructure

The facility was described as an electricity and desalination plant. If the United States targeted the power infrastructure, it was still required to weigh the foreseeable loss of drinking water to roughly 10,000 people as incidental civilian harm, and to take feasible precautions to avoid it (Articles 51(5)(b) and 57). No proportionality assessment or military rationale has been made public.

Bridges and Tunnels

Bridges and highway tunnels can be military objectives when they make an effective contribution to military action. They are also the civilian population's means of movement, supply and evacuation. The deaths reported in the bridge strikes — seven or eight people according to Iranian sources, with no breakdown of civilian or military status — echo the April B1 bridge strike, where civilians near a bridge were killed.

Classification

This entry is classified as a potential war crime. The physical damage and the loss of water supply are reported by the Associated Press (citing Iranian state television), noted by the UN, and described by the responsible Iranian utility. What is not known is whether the water facility was deliberately targeted or damaged incidentally, and what military advantage was anticipated. Those are precisely the questions a US investigation would need to answer, and none has been announced.