US, Israel Strike 90,000 Iranian Civilian Sites
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- US and Israeli forces have struck approximately 90,000 civilian sites in Iran since February 28, killing more than 2,000 people, according to Iranian figures cited in the report; Iran retaliated by striking Israel, killing at least 19, and Gulf nations hosting US bases, killing at least 25, plus 13 US soldiers.
- Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab was struck on the war's first day, killing at least 170 people, most of them girls aged 7-12; Al Jazeera and Amnesty International said a US-made Tomahawk missile was likely used deliberately, a claim President Trump denied.
- Iran's retaliation has hit energy infrastructure across the Gulf: it struck Qatar's Ras Laffan facility (20% of global LNG), Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery, the UAE's Fujairah and Mussafah terminals, Oman's Duqm port, and Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, halting production at multiple sites.
- Israeli strikes on Iran's energy sector hit Tehran oil facilities on March 8 and the South Pars gasfield — the world's largest natural gas reserve, shared with Qatar — on March 18; Iran retaliated by hitting Ras Laffan again, wiping out 17% of Qatar's LNG capacity and an estimated $20bn in annual revenue.
- Iran has also targeted desalination plants in Bahrain (March 8) and Kuwait (March 30, killing one Indian worker); the Gulf region derives about 90% of its water from desalination, exposing a critical civilian vulnerability beyond oil and gas.
- The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran's only operational civilian nuclear facility, was hit on March 27 in the third attack on the site since the war began, according to Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
Why it matters: The war's targeting of civilian infrastructure — schools, a nuclear power plant, and Gulf desalination plants that supply roughly 90% of the region's drinking water — risks cascading humanitarian and economic fallout far beyond the immediate combatants, with Qatar alone losing 17% of its LNG capacity and an estimated $20bn in annual revenue. Attacking water systems in nations hosting US bases puts direct pressure on Washington's regional alliance architecture.
