Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency published photos showing a damaged drinking water reservoir in Bamani, southern Iran, and what experts identified as fragments of a U.S.-made precision bomb. CNN said it could not independently verify that the munition pieces were recovered from the site, but an independent researcher geolocated the reservoir images to southern Iran, and CNN confirmed the location.
According to munitions experts Trevor Ball and N.R. Jenzen-Jones, the fragments appear consistent with a GBU-39 series bomb, a precision-guided munition manufactured in the United States. Ball said the visible damage also fits the type of impact such a weapon would cause. The GBU-39 is also known to be in the arsenals of Israel and some Gulf states.
The report comes after the United States carried out strikes against Iran on Tuesday in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. helicopter. It remains unclear whether the Bamani water reservoir was among the targets in those attacks. U.S. Central Command said it was aware of the reports and was looking into the situation, but did not provide further details about the water facility.
Iranian officials, quoted by Mehr, said two concrete water-storage reservoirs with a combined capacity of 2,500 cubic meters were hit in Bamani district and rendered completely unusable. Tasnim news agency, which is associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that the reservoirs supplied water to at least 20,000 people. The photos published by Mehr show the smaller of the two tanks with its roof collapsed, debris scattered around it, and large pipes leading into the structure.
Satellite measurements suggest the damaged tank could have held about half a million liters of water. If the reservoir was destroyed during the broader U.S. attack, Ball said the remote location makes a weapon guidance error unlikely. He said it was possible that the building was specifically targeted by mistake, but added that the munition itself appears to have struck accurately. Water infrastructure is protected under the Geneva Convention, making attacks on such facilities a serious legal and humanitarian concern.
In March, U.S. President Donald Trump had raised alarm by suggesting in a Truth Social post that the United States might target Iran’s desalination plants. That threat drew concern from American allies in the Gulf, highlighting the sensitivity of attacks on civilian water systems.
