Photos suggest US bombs damaged drinking water tanks in Iran

 

US-made precision bombs appear to have struck two drinking water facilities in southern Iran, according to images posted by Iran’s semi-official news agency and an independent outlet, and analyzed by CNN.

The photos of the damaged water tanks, which lie adjacent to each other, were first geolocated to the Bamani area by an independent researcher who posts under the name acceladealer on X, then subsequently confirmed by CNN.

Water facilities are protected under the Geneva Convention. In March, US President Donald Trump floated the idea of the United States attacking Iran’s water desalinization plants in a Truth Social post. The threat raised widespread alarm among America’s Gulf allies.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday was asked in general about targeting civilian infrastructure in Iran, though not specifically about the water facility strikes, and whether such attacks would amount to a war crime. In response, he said that was a “disingenuous question” and that the US would hit targets “that improve the environment for us to operate in.”

One image released by the semi-official Mehr news agency on Wednesday features components from a GBU-39 series bomb, a precision-guided weapon produced in the US, according to munitions experts Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, and N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of Armament Research Services.

CNN could not independently verify that the munitions shown in the image released by Mehr were found at the site.

That photo was released alongside images that showed the smaller of the two water tanks destroyed.

Israel and some Gulf states also have the bomb in their arsenals. Ball also said the damage to the tanks was broadly consistent with that from a GBU-39.

Another image, posted by the independent Aftab News agency on Wednesday, shows a small entry hole in the roof of the larger water tank, which appears to be still standing. Ball told CNN that the hole, as well as a wing remnant next to it, is consistent with damage from a GBU-39 bomb. CNN geolocated this image to the roof of the larger water tank. The New York Times was the first to report on the damage to the bigger tank.

A small entry hole in the roof of the larger water tank, seen in this photo posted on Wednesday, is consistent with damage from a GBU-39 bomb, an expert said. Next to the hole, a wing remnant of the same weapon is visible.

Afrab News

The US launched strikes against Iran on Tuesday in response to Tehran downing a US helicopter; it’s unclear if the water tanks were hit in those attacks.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Capt. Timothy Hawkins said the command was aware of reports about the damaged water tanks and was looking into the situation. He did not answer further questions about the water facility.

Civilian infrastructure

After the earlier US strikes, Mehr quoted Abdul Hamid Hamzehpour, the chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, as telling the agency, “Two concrete water-storage reservoirs with a combined capacity of 2,500 cubic meters in the Bamani district were struck by missiles and completely taken out of service.”

According to the Iranian Tasnim news agency, which is associated with the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the reservoirs served at least 20,000 Iranians. The photos published by Mehr show only the smaller of the two tanks, which has its roof caved in and is surrounded by debris. Large pipes can be seen leading into the tank, which could have held around half a million liters of water, according to measurements taken from satellite images.

If the water tank was destroyed amid the larger US attack in response to the helicopter downing, Ball said the location makes an error in the weapon’s guidance unlikely.

“It’s possible there was an error in targeting this building specifically, but a munition error is very unlikely,” Ball told CNN. “The munition precisely hit this building which is in a fairly remote area.”

This report has been updated with additional developments.