Last updated:
Human Rights Watch has documented a series of Iranian military strikes targeting civilian infrastructure and economic facilities in Gulf states, causing significant civilian casualties and constituting potential violations of international humanitarian law.
The Strikes: What HRW Has Documented
Human Rights Watch has documented multiple Iranian strikes on civilian infrastructure across Gulf states. Targets have included oil production facilities, desalination plants, port infrastructure, and commercial shipping — all objects considered civilian infrastructure under international humanitarian law when not serving a direct military purpose.
Most critically, HRW has documented strikes on densely populated areas, including port towns and industrial zones where large civilian worker populations are present. The organization has verified civilian deaths and serious injuries resulting from these strikes through witness interviews, hospital records, and satellite imagery analysis.
Among the most alarming incidents documented is a strike on a desalination plant in a Gulf state with a civilian worker population of several thousand. The destruction of desalination capacity in a desert region can itself constitute a humanitarian emergency, as access to drinking water is critical to civilian survival.
The Legal Framework: What International Law Requires
International humanitarian law — codified in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols — establishes clear rules for military conduct. The principle of distinction requires parties to distinguish at all times between civilian objects and military objectives, and to direct attacks only against the latter.
Iran has claimed that the struck facilities are part of an economic infrastructure supporting the military campaign against it — a claim that legal experts describe as an impermissible stretching of the military objective concept under IHL.
"Destroying a desalination plant in a desert country is not a military operation — it is an attack on the survival of the civilian population. International humanitarian law does not permit this, regardless of the military justification offered."
— Human Rights Watch Researcher, Middle East & North Africa Division
Civilian Impact: Beyond the Immediate Deaths
The immediate humanitarian impact of the strikes is significant but may be overshadowed by the longer-term consequences of infrastructure destruction. The disruption of oil production creates economic instability with cascading effects on populations dependent on petroleum revenues for government services.
HRW researchers have also documented what appears to be the deliberate targeting of water supply infrastructure in at least two cases — a potential war crime under international law, as attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population are prohibited under Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.
The Risk of Escalation and Broader Humanitarian Catastrophe
The International Crisis Group has warned that Iranian strikes on Gulf civilian infrastructure risk triggering direct military responses from Gulf states, potentially drawing additional actors into an already complex and dangerous conflict. The Strait of Hormuz has seen disruptions to commercial shipping that are driving global energy prices upward.
Accountability and the Need for Independent Monitoring
Human Rights Watch is calling on Iranian authorities to immediately halt all strikes on civilian infrastructure, to investigate the documented civilian casualties caused by its forces, and to cooperate with independent monitoring by the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN human rights mechanisms.
The organization notes that accountability must apply equally to all parties to the conflict — applying the same legal standards regardless of which party bears responsibility for a specific violation.
Sources: Human Rights Watch — hrw.org/news/2026/03/17/iran-unlawful-strikes-across-gulf-endanger-civilians | ICRC — icrc.org | UN OCHA — unocha.org | International Crisis Group — crisisgroup.org
Need an expert witness report for your case?
Our country experts provide independent reports for asylum and immigration cases in the UK, US, Canada, and EU.
Order an expert witness report |
Find a country expert witness |
About our expert team
