Fact Check: Is the photo showing US' attack on Iran’s desalination plant in Qeshm real?
QESHM ISLAND, IRAN: Amid the rising conflict in Iran, which claimed the life of Ayatollah Khamenei and severely injured his son Mojtaba Khamenei, a photo has been going viral on social media platforms, claiming to show the destruction of Iran’s water desalination plant in an attack by the US. Let us analyse the viral image and fact-check the claim.
Claim: Viral photo shows Iran’s water desalination plant attacked by the US
As tensions in the region continue to escalate, the viral photograph is being widely shared on social media with the claim that it shows the United States attacked a water desalination plant in Iran's Qeshm Island.
The image was even shared by prominent news media outlets, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on social media platforms. While many believed the claim to be true, few others expressed skepticism about it.
The image surfaced after Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced on his X account that the desalination plant in Qeshm had been destroyed on March 7, 2026.
Fact Check: The image shows a warehouse in Iraq
While it is true that Iran's foreign minister has accused the US of destroying its desalination plant, this image is not from Qeshm Island.
The photo originally shows a US-based firm's warehouses, which were attacked by drones, in Basra, Iraq.
A reverse image search led to a Facebook post by The Business Standard, sharing the same photo. The post was accompanied by a caption stating, “drone attack in Basra, Iraq" on March 7, 2026, crediting the image to Reuters.
A look at the Reuters website revealed that it had shared different angles of this image with the caption, "A drone view shows damage at a compound housing offices and warehouses used by U.S. firm Halliburton after a drone attack in Basra, Iraq, March 7, 2026," crediting the image to its journalist Essam al-Sudani.
Hence, although it is true that Iran has claimed the US attacked its desalination plant in Qeshm, the viral photo is from Iraq, not from the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Iran warns of strikes on UAE ports
Following the alleged destruction of the plant, Iran warned it could target ports and docks in the United Arab Emirates after the United States launched strikes on Iran’s crucial Kharg Island, a key hub for the country’s oil exports.
The Iranian military alleged that the US had fired missiles from positions concealed in ports, docks, and shelters inside Emirati cities.
The UAE, which has been among the countries affected by Iran’s retaliatory attacks in the Gulf, said earlier this week that its defensive posture remained unchanged.
After avoiding the island during the first two weeks of the conflict, US forces on Friday struck military facilities on Kharg Island.
