A new analysis points to toxic runoff, extreme acid rain, heavy marine pollution, oil and gas fires, with grave ecological consequences.
The Conflict and Environment Observatory has updated its ‘day three assessment’ of the environmental impact from Operation Epic Fury — the joint US and Israeli military bombardment of Iran.
The revised analysis was published yesterday, and explains ‘pollution incidents [are] pacing people and ecosystems at risk of acute and long-term harm’. There has also been a continuation of ‘trends that could lead to substantial environmental damage as the war continues’.
Using tradition and social media as key sources for compiling records of individual incidents, flashpoints with serious implications for people and planet are widespread. Explosions and other events in Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Cyprus, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Azerbaijan have all been flagged as having the potential to cause significant ecological harm. Examples include from blazes in tyre warehouses and oil refineries, hospital waste spills and military shrapnel sprayed across the land.
‘Although many attacked military sites show secondary explosions and fires, these rarely destroy all hazardous materials and may generate additional pollution,’ the Observatory report reads. ‘Likely contaminants include fuels, oils, heavy metals, energetic compounds and PFAS, while fires can release dioxins and furans. Many of the larger Iranian military facilities are in rural areas, or underground, complicating damage assessment and potentially reducing human exposure risks.
‘Iran operates both solid- and liquid-fuelled ballistic missiles, and some liquid propellants — such as unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and inhibited red fuming nitric acid used in SCUD-type systems — are highly toxic and have posed serious management and disposal challenges in other conflict settings,’ it continues. ‘Depots storing conventional weapons also pose environmental risks when attacked. The incomplete destruction of munitions can leave areas contaminated with heavy metals, propellants and explosives, many of which are toxic, while fires can create dioxins, furans and release particulate matter.’
Marine pollution has also a major cause for concern, with fallout from previous wars in the region showing just how quickly this can begin to have an impact on vast areas. Prior to today’s report that 16 Iranian ships capable of planting explosives sea mines had been sunk, US-Israeli attacks had destroyed 43 vessels, and inflicting extensive damage to militarised port infrastructure at Bandar Abbas and Konarak, Iran.Effects are being felt much further away, too. For example, torpedoing the Islamic Republic’s Dena frigate off the Sri Lankan coast has resulted in a 20km oil slick. At least 12 merchant ships are also counted in the casualties, with many hit while in Persian Gulf docks.
‘Iran has also targeted civilian and military port infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jabal Ali and Manama,’ the Observatory continues. ‘Sunken vessels and damaged port infrastructure can present significant pollution risks, including from fuels and oils. Widespread electromagnetic jamming in the Gulf has further heightened risks, with vessels’ communication and navigation disrupted they are at more risk of collision.’
You can read the full report here.
All this is in addition to widely publicised concerns relating to strikes on fossil fuel hubs, which have already resulted in extensive plumes of thick smoke, blackening skies above Iran’s capital, Tehran. Yesterday, the BBC described the scale of pollution as ‘unprecedented’. Iranians who have managed to get voice memos out of the country to Western media, as featured in The Guardian, described waking up with sore throats and burning eyes due to the toxic downpours.
‘I have severe shortness of breath and burning in my eyes and throat, and many others feel the same,’ one eyewitness told the newspaper. ‘But people still have to go outside because they have no choice. Many places reopened today, but closed again because it’s impossible to stay outdoors.’
Both air and marine pollution are transboundary issues, capable of quickly spreading over huge distances. Given the ongoing escalation of military action within Iran and continued strikes against surrounding Gulf states, whether fighting remains contained in the region or not, every day the conflict continues the chances of global ecological damage increases.
Image: anita filabi / Unsplash
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