Strike on Jask desalination plant cuts drinking water for about 10,000 people in southern Hormozgan

Officials in Iran's Hormozgan province said on Saturday, July 18, 2026, that a strike damaging a seawater desalination plant in the Bonji area of Jask County had cut off drinking water for about 10,000 people across nearly 20 coastal villages. According to the provincial water and wastewater company, the plant's seawater intake station and an electrical transformer were knocked out; the facility had a production capacity of about 3,150 cubic meters of water per day.

The damage was reported during overnight strikes along Iran's southern coast, with temperatures in Hormozgan exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. US Central Command has not specifically addressed the reported damage and says its operations target military capabilities and threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials called the strike a humanitarian violation and said emergency measures such as trucking in water and drawing on limited groundwater were under way. Independent verification of the details remains difficult.