Some blame Tehran. Others blame Washington. But nearly all residents of Iran’s southern coast agree on one thing: the resumption of airstrikes between the United States and Iran has hit them hard, leaving them without electricity, without fuel and without the means to make a living. On the coasts of Khuzestan and Bushehr provinces along the Persian Gulf, as well as on the Makran coast in Hormozgan province, on the Sea of Oman, life has always been tied to the sea.
The latest US strikes – which Washington says were prompted by Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz – have hit ports, ships and fishing boats, upending the lives of fishermen, sailors and all those who depend on maritime trade. “Many boats have sunk, they have been hit by missiles,” a resident of southern Iran said in a video shared on social media. “Many boats were burned… Forget the money, think of the lives lost.” Iranian authorities say the bombings have killed about 50 people, including civilians, since the US launched strikes on southern Iran in late June. Over the past nine days, the attacks have become a daily occurrence.
The United States says the primary goal is to systematically degrade Iran’s naval and military capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz — a vital corridor for global energy transport that Iran has blocked in response to the war. Washington insists the strikes are targeting military targets it says are being used to threaten shipping in the Strait. But residents say the effects are felt much deeper in everyday life. Attacks on power plants and transmission substations along the coast have knocked out cooling systems in a Region where July temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
In the port city of Bandar Abbas, a resident said he was forced to stay in his car with his family after their home was left without electricity. “We have no electricity. At night, when we want to sleep, we only hear the war and explosions… What have we done to deserve this? To stay in the car with the whole family at noon, instead of resting at home? At 41 degrees, without electricity, it’s just boiling,” he said. In the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, residents say there are constant power outages, making the extreme heat wave even more difficult. “They are cutting off the electricity in this heat,” said one resident, referring to the cities of Abadan, Khorramshahr and the rest of the province. “It’s unbearable.”
Damaged roads and bridges have exacerbated the crisis, blocking access to coastal cities. Drivers have taken to social media to urge people to avoid driving. Long lines for fuel have become a daily occurrence, while power outages have also affected communication networks, leaving many families without information for hours about the safety of their loved ones in the affected areas.
Although the US strikes have been carried out in various parts of Iran, the main focus has been on the southern coast, where thousands of vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf due to the war. Both sides blame each other for the failure of a memorandum of understanding signed last month that halted the fighting and opened a 60-day period of talks to resolve the conflict that erupted on February 28.
The situation has become so dire that tens of thousands of Iranians signed an online petition last week urging hardline leaders to visit the country’s south and see conditions for themselves, rather than making decisions from afar that they say endanger the lives of ordinary citizens. “Such action could bring more empathy, more effective support, and more realistic decision-making at the national level,” the petition says. Others, frustrated by the return of the war, say Washington also bears responsibility for the resumption of fighting. One resident described the situation as a bombing campaign “that doesn’t let us sleep.” The conflict has also hit tourism hard.
Although historical monuments in Khuzestan and Qeshm Island have not been directly damaged, coastal areas have been turned into security zones, emptying guesthouses and putting tour guides out of work just before the season when the Region usually welcomes more visitors. In Qeshm and Sirik, burned boats have taken with them not only the livelihood of fishermen but also part of southern Iran’s maritime heritage. But amid the destruction, residents also speak of the solidarity of people in other parts of Iran, who have opened their homes to families displaced from the hardest-hit areas. For many people in the Persian Gulf, it is this sense of solidarity – as much as the hope for an end to the war – that helps them carry on. “The first thing we check is whether we are still alive, whether our neighbor is alive, and whether we still have friends and family nearby,” said one woman from southern Iran.