Toxic rain fell over Tehran as airstrikes hit oil facilities

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, making day seem like night. Toxic rain mixed with oil fell from the air, while a central boulevard was bordered by a wall of flames.

This is what happened Sunday in Tehran after a night of Israeli airstrikes on the city’s oil installations. It could also reflect the mood of international markets, as the escalating war in the Middle East sends energy prices soaring and threatens a period of global economic uncertainty.

In the Iranian capital, authorities said Israeli strikes hit a number of oil and gas installations in and around the city. In a geotagged video by NBC News, orange flames and belching smoke could be seen rising from the Aghdasieh fuel depot in the Tajrish district, north of the city.

The cloud of smoke covered the Iranian capital so much that noon seemed more like 10 p.m., according to residents. They said the smoke prevented them from leaving their home – and they could barely breathe inside.

“I’m sitting at home with a headache and my mouth tastes bitter,” Armita, 42, told NBC News from inside the city on Sunday. “It was terrible,” said Mina, 70, who said that even after the rain dispersed much of the worst, “you can still smell the smoke.” NBC News is only using their first names, given the tense security situation inside the country.

The Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had bombed fuel storage facilities in Tehran on Saturday evening.

Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization warned people to stay indoors as the explosions released large quantities of toxic hydrocarbons and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen.

The rains that followed could be “very acidic and dangerous, causing chemical burns to the skin and severe lung damage,” the statement said. “If rain comes into contact with the skin, do not rub it, rinse immediately with cold running water.”

Along with the precipitation, the oil itself thrown into the air by the explosions fell on cars and people. On at least one street, oil spilled into the gutter on Koohsar Boulevard in the Shahran neighborhood, according to videos geotagged by NBC News.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the attacks amounted to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare.

“Aggressors are releasing hazardous materials and toxic substances into the air, poisoning civilians, devastating the environment and endangering lives on a large scale,” Baqaei wrote on X.

Tehran is a hotbed of war, hit by strikes from the United States and Israel that have shaken windows and given residents sleepless nights. Some sat on rooftops to watch the impending attacks.

As the sky filled with black smoke on Sunday, security forces directed traffic while wearing special gowns and masks to protect themselves.

Carried out by the Israeli military, the attacks could show that “the appetite for risk in the United States and Israel in terms of mission is different,” according to Michael Stephens, a senior research associate at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.

He said it was a recurring theme throughout this conflict: “There are different timelines, goals and mission objectives between the United States and Israel, and a lack of alignment” on the risks they were willing to take, he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

But Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, questioned whether the refineries were legitimate military targets and whether the Israeli army had taken “all possible precautions to avoid collateral damage to civilians.”

“Accidental harm to civilians, including the release of toxic substances, suggests that too few precautions were taken and that accidental harm to civilians is disproportionate,” she said in a text message Monday.

The hellish scenes in Tehran were emblematic of the direct link between this war, energy infrastructure and global markets.

Iran has the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world, and the conflict has already had serious repercussions. Iran is choking the vital Strait of Hormuz and attacking oil installations across the Middle East in a deadly retaliatory campaign that is damaging global oil and gas supplies.

Arab officials told NBC News that Iran’s strategy is to raise oil prices in hopes of creating pressure for a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the price of oil exceeded $100 for the first time since July 2022, an increase following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a few months earlier.

U.S. crude oil futures rose more than 25%, at one point reaching nearly $115 a barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, jumped more than 20%, to $110 a barrel.

Monday morning, at the start of the session, the two indices had fallen slightly.

But Mohammad Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, warned that prices could remain above $100 “for a long time” to come.

“The economic effects of this war which will extend to the infrastructure of the region and the world will be very significant and lasting,” he said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

According to Greg Brew, senior analyst at think tank Eurasia Group, oil markets have for months managed to absorb pressure from the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions. This ranges from the possibility of Ukraine retaliating against Russia by bombing terminals and oil tankers, to the US blockade of Venezuela.

“For months, this administrator pushed the limits of what the oil markets could absorb,” he wrote on This increased “the chances that they would go too far and do something truly calamitous.”