Iran accuses US of "calculated war crime" by targeting water infrastructure in south

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has denounced the United States for committing what he described as a "calculated war crime", accusing the US of deliberately targeting civilian water infrastructure in the southern province of Hormozgan. He claimed the attacks have deprived more than 20,000 people of drinking water.

In a post on his X account on Wednesday, Esmaeil Baghaei said the United States had intentionally struck facilities essential to civilian life, News.Az reports, citing Iran’s English-language Press TV.

"Water is the pulse of life — and the US is deliberately targeting the lifeblood of the Iranian people," he wrote.

"As part of its aggression against Iran, the US military has deliberately struck vital civilian water infrastructure in Sirik, Hormozgan, destroying two reservoirs with a combined capacity of 2,500 cubic metres," the official added.

"These facilities supplied drinking water to more than 20,000 residents across ten villages," Baghaei noted, asserting: "This is not collateral damage — it is a calculated war crime and a flagrant violation of human rights and international humanitarian law."

"The US must be held accountable for committing such systematic and brutal attacks on civilian life-sustaining infrastructure," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the managing director of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company said pre-dawn US strikes had completely destroyed key water infrastructure in the eastern part of the province.

Abdolhamid Hamzehpour said the attacks targeted the water distribution network serving the town of Kuhestak and ten villages in the Bemani District of Sirik County.

According to Hamzehpour, two concrete reservoirs with capacities of 500 and 2,000 cubic metres, together with their associated mechanical equipment, were demolished, causing a complete disruption of water supplies in the affected areas.

News.Az