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Breaking Afghanistan’s Hydro-Political Trap
June 15th, 2026
Courtesy of The Diplomat, a look at how – since its neighbors rely on unregulated river flows – any unilateral Afghan attempt to develop water infrastructure is perceived as a threat, risking regional destabilization: Situated at the headwaters of major river systems feeding Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, Afghanistan is the mountainous hydro-hub of Central […]
Read more »Iran’s Water Weapon Against the Gulf
March 28th, 2026
Via Project Syndicate, commentary on how – while the rest of the world is mainly concerned about the energy disruptions caused by the Iran war – the Gulf countries are more anxious about the Islamic Republic’s threats to their desalination facilities: The oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf are often described as petrostates. But the […]
Read more »Petrostates and Saltwater Kingdoms: Could Iran Disrupt the Gulf Countries’ Desalinated Water Supplies?
March 21st, 2026
Via CSIS, a look at the risk of Iran’s water to the Gulf’s desalination projects: The economies of the Persian Gulf countries depend on oil and natural gas. Their populations depend on desalinated water. Nature endows the Arabian Peninsula with scant freshwater resources. Consequently, all of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations lining the […]
Read more »Attacks on Middle East Desalination Plants Highlight Risks of Near-Total Dependence on ‘Fossil Fuel Water’
March 15th, 2026
Via Inside Climate News, a look at how the destruction of desalination facilities is a violation of international law that could cause a humanitarian crisis in the most water-scare region on Earth. Powering the plants with electricity from fossil fuels poses additional long-term threats. Recent attacks in the Middle East on desalination plants, facilities that […]
Read more »War Is Pushing Iran’s Water Supply to the Brink of Collapse
March 12th, 2026
Via Bloomberg, a look at how climate-fueled drought and mismanagement have left the country with a severe water shortage, and war only adds to the strain: A bright ball of fire traveled along the Tehran boulevard, so fast that people initially thought it was a drone attack. But the video shows no explosion and, instead, […]
Read more »War Brings New Water Crises to an Already-Parched Iran
March 10th, 2026
Courtesy of the New York Times, a report on how Iran has accused the United States of bombing a desalination plant on Qeshm Island. The country was already facing a severe water shortage. The war in Iran has exposed the country’s water woes, which had been pushed to the brink by climate change, excessive agricultural […]
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