Dark, smoke-choked skies hung over Tehran on Sunday morning after US-Israeli strikes hit oil storage and refining facilities around the Iranian capital, raising fresh fears of toxic exposure and wider health risks for civilians in Iran and beyond.
By Sunday morning, towering oil fires loomed over Tehran. Such blazes release toxic chemicals and other dangerous pollutants, though their impact on health depends on the duration and intensity of exposure, according to the World Health Organisation.
Nasa MODIS satellite imagery from March 9 captured a long, dense plume of black smoke hanging over Tehran, a day after US-Israeli strikes targeted oil storage and refining sites around the capital. In the imagery, the smoke trail stretched across the city’s skies for up to 67 kilometres.
Late on Saturday, the Israeli military struck several Iranian fuel sites, including the Shahran fuel depot and other oil storage facilities in Tehran and Alborz province, with reported hits also near the Shahr Rey refinery and the Fardis depot in Karaj. India Today geolocated the footage showing a mushroom gaseous emergence and identified the site as the Shahran oil depot in north-west Tehran.
Data from the Sentinel-5P atmospheric observations showed a marked rise in tropospheric NO2 and SO2 levels when comparing the period before and after the war, with the most significant anomalies clustering over three key theatres: Tehran, which was hit the most times; Isfahan, a critical node in Iran’s nuclear and missile architecture; and Bandar Abbas, the country’s principal naval hub.
The attacks, seen in videos circulating on social media, appeared to mark the first time oil facilities were hit in Iran since the United States and Israel launched strikes last weekend. Until this weekend, the US-Israeli bombing campaign had largely focused on decapitating Iran’s leadership, crippling its security apparatus, and hitting police stations, while also seeking to destroy its missile production and launch capabilities and prevent Tehran from advancing its nuclear programme.
Tehran is a sprawling metropolis of nearly 1 crore people, where densely packed neighbourhoods place residential, commercial and military sites in close proximity. Iranian media and residents have reported widespread damage to homes, shops, roads, water pipelines, as well as several hospitals and schools located near the targeted sites.
The authorities warned of acid rain, and local people complained of their throats aching and their eyes burning. When precipitation falls through such polluted air, it can wash soot and other particles out of the smoke and carry them to the ground in the form of black raindrops.
