Israeli attacks on fuel depots and oil logistics sites in Tehran on Sunday left apocalyptic images in the Iranian capital, as spilled oil ignited a river of fire and thick black smoke blanketed the city of 10 million, leaving streets and vehicles covered in soot.
Israel and the United States claimed they were attacking Iranian military and government sites, but government officials and individuals say civilian structures such as schools, hospitals and important sites are increasingly being targeted. At least 1,255 people have been killed in the attacks since February 28.
What Israeli and American military planners consider a calculated degradation of state infrastructure is being described by local officials and environmental experts as an act of all-out war and collective punishment.
Shina Ansari, head of Iran’s Environment Department, described the systematic destruction of oil deposits as a blatant act of ecocide.
The attacks systematically targeted four major storage facilities and one distribution center, including the Tehran refinery in the south and warehouses in Aghdasieh, Shahran and Karaj. In the Shahran district, witnesses reported unrefined oil leaking directly into the streets as temperatures hovered around 13°C (55°F).
Ansari, of Iran’s Environment Department, said the environment remains the silent victim of war, noting that the incineration of vast fuel reserves has trapped the capital under a suffocating blanket of pollutants.
The medical and environmental consequences are immediate and serious. The Iranian Red Crescent warned that the smoke contains high concentrations of toxic hydrocarbons, sulfur and nitrogen oxides. The organization noted that any rain that passes through these plumes becomes highly acidic, posing risks of skin burns and serious lung damage upon contact or inhalation.
Ali Jafarian, Iran’s deputy health minister, told Al Jazeera that this acid rain is already contaminating the soil and water supply. Jafarian added that the toxic air poses a deadly risk to the elderly, children and those with pre-existing respiratory conditions, prompting authorities to advise residents to stay indoors.
The destruction has also forced the Iranian Oil Ministry to reduce daily fuel rations for civilians from 30 liters (8 gallons) to 20 liters (5 gallons). At least four employees, including two tanker truck drivers, died in strikes at the depots.
The myth of strategic bombing
Major General Mamoun Abu Nowar, a retired Jordanian military analyst, told Al Jazeera that the main objective of the attacks is to break the resistance of the Iranian people and paralyze the country’s logistics and economy.
“They are preparing the Iranian environment for an uprising against the regime,” Abu Nowar said, adding that the broader goal is to stop state operations and curb Tehran’s regional influence.
However, Abu Nowar expressed urgent concern about the specific munitions deployed, urging Iranian authorities to investigate the bomb fragments given the unusual density of the smoke and resulting acid rain.
Some military strategists argue that attacking an adversary’s vital infrastructure can paralyze the state from the inside out, preventing the need to fight its military forces directly.
Modern warfare has increasingly relied on this strategic bombing using drones and precision missiles to destroy morale and cripple the adversary’s ability to wage war. For Israel, which is engaged in a genocidal war in Gaza and broader regional conflicts, attacking oil deposits is seen as a way to send a coercive message while avoiding a ground war.
However, Adel Shadid, an Israeli affairs researcher, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the strategy is designed to make life hell for ordinary Iranians in the hope of sparking an uprising. Shadid noted a glaring contradiction in the rhetoric of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who claims to support the Iranian people while overseeing the destruction of their basic means of survival.
Raphael S. Cohen, director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program at the RAND Corporation, points out that these types of bombing campaigns systematically fail to achieve their primary objective of breaking the will of the population. Instead, Cohen argues, strategic bombings often produce a rallying effect around the flag, unifying societies against a common enemy rather than making them capitulate.
Historical echoes and reprisals
The reality of attacking oil infrastructure rarely aligns with sterile military theory, as history shows that such tactics reliably produce devastating long-term environmental consequences.
During the 1991 Gulf War, the Kuwait oil well fire created a regional environmental catastrophe. Similarly, during the battle against ISIL (ISIS) in Iraq, the burning of the Qayyarah oil fields created a “Daesh winter” that blocked out the sun for months.
The fires released large quantities of toxic waste, including sulfur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, causing severe respiratory diseases, soil acidification and long-term carcinogenic risks to local people.
Meanwhile, Mokhtar Haddad, editor of Al-Wefaq newspaper, told Al Jazeera Arabic that attacking energy centers could trigger a global energy war.
According to Al Jazeera’s Sohaib al-Assa, reporting from Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has already retaliated by attacking the Haifa oil refinery and targeting a US base in Kuwait, indicating that the conflict is no longer limited to military targets.
On Monday, Bahrain’s state oil company Bapco declared force majeure after waves of Iranian attacks targeted its energy facilities. Iran has also been accused of attacking energy facilities in other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
