Attacks on gas fields, nuclear sites, and desalination plants are leaching toxic pollutants into air, soil, and water, that could impact health for decades, experts say.
Oil depots spewing black smoke. Debris is sinking in the Persian Gulf. Missiles are pounding military sites.
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The Iran war has unleashed a toxic mix of chemicals, heavy metals, and other pollutants that threaten everything from agriculture to drinking water to people’s health – and will leave behind environmental damage and health risks that could persist for decades, experts said.
“All the burning of oil and gas fields in the coastal areas, all the ships that are there, the oil tankers that are being burned or [sunk] – all of these mean pollution,” said Kaveh Madani, an Iranian scientist and director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
“For someone like me who has fought for sustainability and protection of the environment in that region, this is like going many years backward,” he added.
Documenting the damage has proved daunting, with a full accounting impossible for now, noted Doug Weir, director of the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit that monitors environmental harms from armed conflicts.
The group uses remote satellite sensing and open-source intelligence to identify damage and score environmental risks to people, ecosystems, and agricultural land.
So far, it has recorded more than 400 environmentally concerning incidents related to the war, though much is still unknown due to delays in satellite imagery and an internet blackout in Iran, Weir said.
The air pollution unleashed could lead to many health problems
Perhaps the most enduring images of the war are of darkened skies from oil infrastructure set ablaze by airstrikes, including two weeks ago when black rain fell near Tehran, Iran's capital.
Microscopic soot raises risks of lung and heart problems, while toxic chemicals pose long-term cancer risks, and heavy metals from the fallout could contaminate soil and water supplies, experts say.
Soot, ash, and toxic chemicals from strikes on fuel depots and a refinery combined with water droplets in the atmosphere and fell back to Earth as an oily, acidic rain that prompted warnings to stay indoors.
Debris and contamination from missiles, as well as potential strikes on manufacturing facilities and other infrastructure, also could unleash harmful pollution throughout the region, according to experts.
“If you hit an ammonia-producing plant for fertiliser or for food production... those release chemicals that are absolutely toxic and harmful if they spread,” said Mohammed Mahmoud, head of Middle East Climate and Water Policy with the United Nations University Institute of Water, Environment and Health, and founder of the Climate and Water Initiative.
Continued access to clean water is a big concern
Countries in the Persian Gulf region rely on hundreds of desalination plants for drinking water, raising health and security risks if plants are damaged or water is polluted, experts say.
People in the region "struggle with having access to clean drinking water, even at peace times," noted Madani, the Iranian scientist and UN official. “Any damage to water infrastructure can have long-lasting impacts.”
Iran has said a US airstrike damaged one of its desalination plants, while neighbouring Bahrain accused Iran of damaging one of its plants. Experts fear more could be targeted the longer the war goes on.
Addressing environmental damage could take decades
After the war, as Iran and other countries rebuild, environmental damage could be a low priority, experts say.
The focus will be on energy and water infrastructure, manufacturing plants, and food production facilities, according to Mahmoud. Some pollution, especially to the gulf or other waterways, “I doubt will be addressed soon, and in some cases, not at all.
In densely populated Tehran, for example, a huge number of strikes have hit not just oil infrastructure, but also buildings and residential areas, generating harmful contamination from pulverised building materials.
People are being exposed to dust and chemicals, which may continue for a long time after the war eventually ends and rebuilding begins.