The bombing of major Iranian oil depots and energy infrastructure around Tehran by a United States and Israeli military coalition has triggered massive fires across the Iranian capital, sent crude oil prices surging, and prompted warnings of a growing environmental and humanitarian crisis.
The strikes targeted multiple fuel storage facilities in Tehran and nearby provinces and were described by observers as a major escalation in the widening conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel. Videos circulating online showed enormous explosions and firestorms lighting up the night sky above the city while black smoke spread across large areas of the capital.
Reacting to footage of the attacks, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democrat running for the US Senate, wrote, “Your tax dollars being used to raise your gas prices.”
Images and videos posted across social media showed entire oil depots engulfed in flames while thick plumes of smoke rose above Tehran’s skyline. Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, DC, described the destruction captured in the footage.
“Scenes from Tehran look apocalyptic,” Rad said.
British journalist Owen Jones reacted to the same footage by stating, “Iran is being destroyed.”
The Iranian Ministry of Oil later confirmed that multiple oil storage depots in the provinces of Tehran and Alborz had been targeted during the attacks.
Israel’s military acknowledged the strikes in a statement, saying it had attacked fuel storage and energy complexes in Tehran. The Israeli military described the operation as a “significant strike” aimed at dismantling military infrastructure used by Iran’s armed forces.
Observers and analysts questioned whether the facilities served purely military purposes. Critics argued that oil depots and energy infrastructure are central to civilian energy systems that support daily life across Tehran.
Iranian political commentator Kev Joon described the strikes as attacks on the basic infrastructure of the city.
“What is happening tonight is that US and Israel are targeting oil depots and desalination plants,” Joon said. “These aren’t military targets. They’re the infrastructure of everyday life. This isn’t a liberatory war. It’s an attempt to break the backs of Iranian people.”
Videos shared online showed the Aqdasiyeh Oil Depot burning while emergency crews attempted to establish a perimeter around the blaze.
Another widely circulated video showed oil flowing through streets and drainage channels after the destruction of a storage facility. Joon said the scenes unfolding in Tehran were unlike anything he had previously seen.
“I don’t know how many times I can say this but my god,” Joon wrote.
“I have never seen something like this,” he added. “These are gutters and streams that run the sides of streets on almost every street and alley in Tehran. They are destroying a city in ways we haven’t witnessed before.”
By the following morning, the environmental consequences of the fires had spread across the Iranian capital. Tehran residents woke to thick gray clouds of smoke and rainfall contaminated with petroleum residue.
Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned that the black rain falling across the city could be dangerous for residents. The organization said the rainfall could be “highly dangerous and acidic” and issued guidance advising people to remain indoors.
Assal Rad warned that the destruction of oil infrastructure had created a large-scale environmental disaster.
“On top of everything else, Israel and the US have unleashed an environmental disaster in Tehran,” Rad said. “How many ways can they show you they have no regard for human life?”
The oil fires continued burning across the city as reporters documented the aftermath of the attacks.
CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen reported from Tehran and later visited the Shahran oil depot, one of the facilities struck in the bombing. Pleitgen described the damage at the site as “immense.”
Iranian officials issued strong condemnations of the attacks and accused the United States and Israel of deliberately targeting civilian energy infrastructure.
Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the bombing marked a dangerous new phase of the conflict.
“The US-Israeli criminal war against the Iranian nation has entered a dangerous new phase with deliberate strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure,” Baqaei said.
“These attacks on fuel storage facilities amount to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against the Iranian citizens.”
Baqaei said the destruction of the depots had released hazardous materials into the air and environment.
“By targeting fuel depots, the aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment, and endangering lives on a massive scale,” he said.
“The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran’s borders. These strikes constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide—all at once.”
The military escalation also sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
After the initial attacks ordered by US President Donald Trump the previous week, crude oil futures jumped by 35 percent. CNBC described the increase as “the biggest weekly gain in the history of the futures contract dating back to 1983.”
Energy officials warned that the conflict could disrupt global oil supply routes.
Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister, told the Financial Times that crude prices could reach $150 per barrel if tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Kaabi warned that such disruption could “bring down the economies of the world.”
Despite rising fuel costs and global economic concerns, Trump dismissed worries about increasing gasoline prices.
“If they rise, they rise,” Trump said Thursday.
As fires continued to burn across Tehran, analysts described the atmosphere over the city as severely polluted by smoke and burning petroleum.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, described conditions in the Iranian capital.
“Though it is day, the sun cannot be seen in Tehran today because of all the smoke following the US and Israel bombing Tehran’s oil refineries,” Parsi said. “People on the ground describe it as armageddon.”
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