Countries in the Middle East face arid conditions and frequent water shortages, often relying on desalination infrastructure to turn saltwater into freshwater. Without such technology, which removes salt through reverse osmosis, roughly 100 million individuals in the Middle East would have no regular access to drinking water.

The Iran war is exposing another major resource vulnerability in the Middle East: water.

Drinking water is a scarce commodity, and attacks on desalination plants threaten to open a new front.

#TopRisks2026 #GraphicTruth via @gzeromedia.com:[image or embed]

-- Eurasia Group (@eurasiagroup.net) Mar 17, 2026 at 10:30 AM