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US-Israel strikes on Iranian oil depots trigger environmental disaster and historic oil shock
Nation of Change ^ | March 9, 2026 | By Jordan Atwood

Posted on 03/09/2026 10:18:06 AM PDT by Kazan

Bombing of energy infrastructure in Tehran sparks toxic rainfall warnings, record crude price surge, and accusations of war crimes as fires and smoke engulf Iran’s capital.

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.”


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 5thcolumnonfr; farleftsource; frtraitorslist; kazan; liberatingiran; mullahloversonfr; newsforumabuse; notanewsarticle; notanewssite; progressivesource; putinthewarpig; russiansuicide; vladtheimploder; zot

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Attacking Iran's oil depots might be one of the stupidest acts of war in human history.

Does anyone think the Iranian people are going to view us liberators and rise up and overthrow their government after causing an environmental disaster that has killed civilians and will continue to for decades to come?

And, never mind, that blowing up the oil depots is assuring long-term higher oil prices that could cause a world economic meltdown and give us record-high gas prices and stagflation that will allow Democrats to sweep back into power in the mid-terms.

1 posted on 03/09/2026 10:18:07 AM PDT by Kazan
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To: Kazan

Source is “nation of change”. I don’t know who they are but it reads like it came from Iran’s propaganda ministry. I will for a credible source on this one.


2 posted on 03/09/2026 10:22:39 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: Kazan

So it’s okay for Russia to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine but it’s not okay for us to attack it in Iran.

Oookay.

Snort.

L


3 posted on 03/09/2026 10:23:00 AM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: gibsonguy

You’ve got to understand a lot of people want us to lose and they are not even hiding it now. They want America weak and defeated and will do everything they can to achieve that goal.


4 posted on 03/09/2026 10:24:49 AM PDT by lodi90
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To: Kazan

In the grand scheme of things, that was a small storage facility.

When they attack Karg Island.. that will be an issue.


5 posted on 03/09/2026 10:26:40 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: gibsonguy

From their donate page:
““I think NationofChange is doing a great and badly needed job. This is what inspired me to support it.” –Noam Chomsky

NationofChange is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news and activism organization funded entirely by readers like you. “

So basically flaming lib progressive environutjobs.


6 posted on 03/09/2026 10:28:46 AM PDT by Skwor
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To: Kazan
Kazan, I didn't know you were a Red Diaper Baby!
Nation of Change is a progressive news and activism organization founded in 2011, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It focuses on providing fearless, independent journalism and promoting grassroots activism to address social and economic issues, aiming to create a more compassionate and value-driven world.

The organization is a 501(c) nonprofit funded entirely by donations and does not accept corporate advertising or financing . It offers a daily newsletter, publishes articles from progressive writers, and initiates calls to action for social change.


7 posted on 03/09/2026 10:29:12 AM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: Kazan
CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen reported from Tehran

Slightly off topic but are there any other news organizations in Tehran?

8 posted on 03/09/2026 10:31:13 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all. )
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To: Kazan
The oil depots that we hit provide fuel that is sustaining the Iranian military

These types of depots are quickly and easily repaired once the war is over and do not significantly impact Iran's ability to produce oil or to load oil onto tankers

Taking them out does not impact Gulf oil production, or even long term Iranian oil production capacity in the slightest.

What it does do is starve the IRGC with fuel to operate it's war machine and internal repression operations

9 posted on 03/09/2026 10:31:57 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
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To: Kazan
The Iranian people don't see the money from the oil sales and the notion that the mullah's give a rat's patooty about environmental damage makes me giggle.

The Straits of Hormuz are closed because of Iranian actions, not US or Israeli actions: the Iranians have chosen to respond by attacking shipping in the straits and already attacked some oil infrastructure of their neighbors in a calculated attempt to blackmail everyone else to turn against the US and Israel.

Even Qatar is fed up with the Iranians, so it doesn't appear to be working.

10 posted on 03/09/2026 10:36:26 AM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens" )
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To: Kazan

Idiots said the same thing during Gulf War I
when Iraq set their own fields on fire.


11 posted on 03/09/2026 10:41:22 AM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: Skwor

As l thought. The tell was the Trump “quote”.


12 posted on 03/09/2026 10:47:16 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: gibsonguy

Cue John Kerry.


13 posted on 03/09/2026 11:10:57 AM PDT by DPMD (u)
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To: Skwor

So this poster is providing an article from a far left, “progressive” propaganda source...

Sounds about right.


14 posted on 03/09/2026 11:33:32 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Kazan

We know you are on the same side as Iran and the woke left. As a result, your opinion is meaningless on FR.


15 posted on 03/09/2026 11:37:47 AM PDT by ohioman
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Kazan is the capital city of Tatarstan, Russia.


16 posted on 03/09/2026 11:37:53 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Lurker

Actually, I believe it was the IDF that blew it up. Not the USAF/Navy. Apparently, when Trump heard about it he said WTF ?


17 posted on 03/09/2026 11:39:31 AM PDT by woodbutcher1963
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To: Kazan

Go pee your pants somewhere else.


18 posted on 03/09/2026 12:08:39 PM PDT by eyedigress (Trump is my President!)
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To: woodbutcher1963

>>>>,.... I believe it was the IDF that blew it up. Not the USAF/Navy. Apparently, when....>>>>>>
.........
Can you provide a link to confirm it or it’s just your personal “believe” & “Apparently” ?


19 posted on 03/09/2026 1:17:16 PM PDT by leopud
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To: Kazan

.


20 posted on 03/09/2026 1:18:23 PM PDT by sauropod
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