{"id":554278,"date":"2026-03-21T05:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T05:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/554278\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T05:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T05:17:12","slug":"trump-slams-nato-allies-as-cowards-for-failing-to-help-open-strait-of-hormuz-iran-threatens-to-target-tourist-sites-worldwide-iran-attacks-gulf-energy-sites-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/554278\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump slams NATO allies as \u2018cowards\u2019 for failing to help open Strait of Hormuz; Iran threatens to target tourist sites worldwide; Iran attacks Gulf energy sites,"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the arid heart of the Arabian Peninsula, where scorching temperatures and negligible rainfall define the landscape, water is not merely a resource; it is the linchpin of survival.<\/p>\n<p>The six member states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) \u2013 Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman \u2013 rely overwhelmingly on desalination plants converting seawater to quench their thirst. Yet, as the conflict with Iran escalates, <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/business\/the-economy\/the-iran-war-s-most-precious-commodity-isn-t-oil-20260305-p5o7m7.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">this infrastructure emerges as a glaring strategic vulnerability<\/a>, potentially more important than the region\u2019s oil and gas fields, refineries and export terminals.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Persian Gulf relies on nearly 450 facilities to turn seawater into drinking water. They are now under threat.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774070232_339_4e06f32110830e3c391d3f8e7d2115082e5e82c0.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>The Persian Gulf relies on nearly 450 facilities to turn seawater into drinking water. They are now under threat.AFP<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s ability to strike the GCC\u2019s desalination plants, whether with missiles, drones, small boat swarms or cyberattacks, poses an existential threat to these six Arab states. Iran draws most of its water from rivers, reservoirs and aquifers, and so could endure disruptions to its limited desalination operations. But the GCC states could face rapid societal collapse without theirs.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/world\/middle-east\/despot-radical-peacemaker-the-millennial-prince-and-the-middle-east-moonshot-20230111-p5cbua.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Key US ally Saudi Arabia<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest producer of desalinated water, best exemplifies the stakes. Estimates suggest the country could survive only seven to 14 days on supplies if its main plant in Riyadh was destroyed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the arid heart of the Arabian Peninsula, where scorching temperatures and negligible rainfall define the landscape, water&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-554278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}