The war in Iran has exposed the country’s water woes, which had been pushed to the brink by climate change, excessive agricultural use and decades of mismanagement.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday accused the US of bombing a desalination plant on Qeshm Island, affecting the water supply for 30 villages. The US government has denied responsibility for the attack.
The incident — and Iran’s subsequent bombing of a desalination plant in Bahrain — has sparked fears that the US-Israeli war with Iran could lead to broader assaults on critical water infrastructure in the Gulf, threatening supplies for millions.
But Iran was already facing a critical water shortage before the conflict.
“They’re still in a state of crisis,” said Eric Lob, an associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University. “There’s still water scarcity issues and power outages, and if anything, now the regime can blame conflict.”
Black rain
Soon after dark plumes of smoke began settling over Tehran early on Sunday morning, residents noticed a bizarre phenomenon: black rain. Some also reported a thick, oily film covering their cars and roofs like paint.
Then the migraines, dizziness and coughing set in.
Health experts were not surprised. Iranian fuel depots had just been hit as American and Israeli forces intensified their campaign against the Iranian government.
Only a day after the strikes in Tehran, the health effects were being been felt miles from the depots. One resident told The New York Times that she had awoke to a pitch-black sky and gone outside. When she got back home, her face was itchy and covered in "black dots", she said.
After just 15 minutes in a car, another Tehran resident developed burning eyes and airway congestion. “It almost feels like tear gas in the air,” she said. “The war has entered our throats.”
Burning oil releases enormous quantities of carbon dioxide, according to Marsha Wills-Karp, a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who focuses on environmental determinants of disease. That gas quickly displaces oxygen, which is why people near the site of a burn often show early signs of suffocation. The heart rate increases, breathing speeds up, and people may experience headaches, dizziness, and the strong sensation that they cannot get enough air.
The dark debris raining from the sky was composed of fine particles known as PM2.5, experts said, including black carbon, which gives the pollutant its colour. Various other toxins were released as well: carcinogenic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; gases like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides; heavy metals like lead, arsenic and mercury, all of which are among the World Health Organisation’s top 10 chemicals of public health concern.
After the drops have fallen, a host of dangerous chemicals remain suspended in the air, Dr Levy said, many of them linked to heart and lung disease, cancers, and cognitive issues like neurodevelopmental disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.
The World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday that the "black rain" and toxic compounds in the air in Iran could cause respiratory problems, and it backed Iran’s advisory urging people to remain indoors.
New York Times News Service and Reuters