FOR six long months, since the outbreak of the Iran-US war on February 28, this column has consistently called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Every time, there has been an appeal for reason, for restraint, and for the primacy of human life over military calculation.
Regrettably, those appeals have gone unheeded.
The conflict has not abated; it has deepened, widened, and grown more indiscriminate. Today, it is civilians - in their homes, in hospitals, and in airports - who are paying the highest price.
What began as a confrontation between two states has evolved into a regional crisis that threatens the very foundations of civilian life in the Gulf. In recent days, the war has crossed a dangerous new threshold with the systematic targeting of civilian transit hubs.
King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, one of the region's busiest gateways, has become a stark symbol of this escalation. On October 6, missile strikes on the airport killed one Sudanese national and wounded eight other civilians. Two days later, a dual attack struck airport installations and hit a Saudia Airbus A320 on the apron, destroying the aircraft and killing three Saudi citizens, including a commercial pilot.
The deadliest incident came on October 10, when strikes on Terminals 3 and 4 caused roof collapses and massive fires, killing 13 people of different nationalities - including four Saudis and an American citizen - and injuring more than 300. A day later, on October 11, another strike on Terminal 4 killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 more, while similar attacks were reported at the airport in Dammam.
Other hubs have fared only marginally better. While Kuwait International and Dubai International airports escaped destruction on a similar scale, both have suffered severe disruptions, mass cancellations and prolonged closures since the early weeks of the war. Across Dubai, Doha, Kuwait and Tehran, major airports have sustained structural damage or been forced into operational shutdowns.
The impact on civil aviation - a lifeline for our region - is now quantifiable and alarming. Middle Eastern carriers have reported a 14.2 per cent year-on-year fall in passenger demand, alongside a 9 per cent drop in capacity, with load factors declining to 79.1 per cent. What had been a tentative stabilisation earlier in the conflict was completely reversed in August. This is not merely an industry statistic. It reflects families separated, medical travel cancelled, students stranded and commerce choked.
Yet the devastation goes far beyond runways and terminals. In recent weeks, strikes have targeted water purification and desalination plants in Iran, the UAE and elsewhere in the Gulf, threatening clean water supplies for millions and prompting emergency conservation orders. Simultaneously, direct hits on oil refineries, petrochemical complexes, pipelines and fuel depots across Iran and several GCC states have triggered massive fires, oil spills and grave environmental hazards that will linger for years.
Schools, universities, research centres and hospitals have been forced to suspend normal operations, many moving to indefinite remote learning or emergency-only services. When education and healthcare stop functioning, the future itself is put on hold.
This deliberate erosion of essential civilian infrastructure carries profound legal and moral consequences. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the International Committee of the Red Cross have warned unequivocally that attacks on objects indispensable to civilian survival violate international humanitarian law. Under the laws of armed conflict, the deliberate or indiscriminate targeting of civilian objects may constitute war crimes. These are not abstract legal principles; they are safeguards for humanity built from the lessons of past wars. Their continued violation must not be normalised.
The economic shockwave is equally severe. Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz - through which a fifth of the world's energy passes - has plunged dramatically, crippling access to energy, food and fertiliser within and beyond the region.
Combined with work restrictions, transport disruptions, and steep losses in tourism and trade, and compounded by surging global oil prices, the conflict now threatens macroeconomic stability worldwide. Nations already burdened by debt and inflation can ill afford another protracted shock.
Oman has long stood for dialogue over confrontation, for mediation over escalation. From this principled position, we renew our call today with greater urgency: this devastating conflict must end. Not for strategic advantage, but for human survival. Not tomorrow, but now.
The world cannot look away while water plants burn, airports become battlefields, and innocent travellers become casualties. The human cost is already too high.
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