Fifth of Iranian attacks on Gulf target non-military facilities

Close to one-fifth of all Iranian attacks on the Gulf since the start of its war with the US have targeted "non-military infrastructure", revealing the extent of Tehran's strategy of driving up the war's costs in the region.

According to data from conflict monitor ACLED, 18% of all attacks on the Gulf states between 28 February and 30 July  targeted non-military infrastructure, constituting 172 attacks in total. The remaining attacks targeted military sites or unspecified targets.

This includes attacks on energy facilities, which account for the bulk of attacks at 48%, with the remaining strikes divided among ports and airports at 27%, government and diplomatic targets at six per cent, and other commercial infrastructure at 19%.

"Critical non-military infrastructure across the Gulf has been a core target of Iran and the groups it backs since the conflict began in February 2026, which reflects a strategy to increase economic pressure on oil-rich states," the report outlined.

From the outset of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran sought to inflict damage on US military assets in the region, as well as key American allies.

Gulf states that bore the brunt of Iran’s retaliation are closely allied to the US, housing military installations, and possessing key nodes in the global economy, including oil and gas production, major airports, supply hubs and ports.

The UAE absorbed 28% of all non-military attacks on the Gulf, closely followed by Kuwait at 25%, Bahrain at 20%, and Saudi Arabia at 16%. Qatar and Oman experienced five and six percent of said attacks respectively.

Nasser Khdour, the ACLED's Middle East Assistant Research Manager and author of the report, told The New Arab that these attacks will have long-term consequences for the region, decreasing investor confidence, investment, and trade flows, and ultimately undermining the Gulf's economic model.

Most starkly, ACLED data reveals that over 70% of all attacks damaged or led to fires at their intended target, with 25 incidents causing injuries and death, a statistic that Khdour said revealed the Gulf's vulnerability in escalatory periods where US missile defences prioritise its own, and Israeli, military sites.

"Iran is fighting for survival, and if the conflict escalates again, it is likely to resume attacks on critical infrastructure," Khdour said, adding that this could also see the targeting of power and desalination plants, impacting daily life in the Gulf.

As the war has progressed, these sites have increasingly been targeted, including water desalination plants in Kuwait and Abu Dhabi's Barakah Nuclear Plant.

Iran’s 'message' to the region

Dr Neil Quilliam, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme working on energy policy and geopolitics, told The New Arab that Iran's strategy "is best understood as an attempt to impose economic costs on its adversaries while demonstrating that Gulf prosperity and global energy security remain vulnerable to regional conflict".

Since the start of the war, international markets have been fretting about the state of the global economy following the stifling of global access to 20% of the world's oil and gas production.

The price of Brent Crude has experienced wild fluctuations since February, reaching a high of $112 per barrel in early April, up from a prewar price of around $65, and fluctuating with each round of escalation and de-escalation.

That price has fed through into US petrol prices and inflation in the country, while other commodities, such as fertiliser, have also risen.

The region's energy facilities are a "highly visible target" for Iran and allow it to exert physical, psychological and economic pressure, Quilliam said, due to the outsized effect of limited disruption in their operation, from increased insurance and shipping costs, and concerns over supply security.

ACLED noted several facilities have been struck as part of Iran's retaliation across the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia's Aramco and its facilities in Ras Tanura, Shaybah and Yanbu, the latter becoming a key source of oil exports in the absence of an open Strait of Hormuz.

Other facilities in the region include Kuwait's Mina Abdullah and Mina al-Ahmadi refineries.

Quilliam told The New Arab that "this matters beyond the Strait of Hormuz because it gives Tehran an additional tool of coercion", as strikes on production, processing, storage and export facilities still have an effect on energy markets.

"The message is that Iran can influence the global economy through multiple pressure points across the Gulf, not solely through the threat of closing Hormuz," Quilliam added.