{"id":11207,"date":"2026-03-09T16:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/11207\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T16:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:13:13","slug":"toxic-black-rain-in-tehran-after-us-israel-bomb-oil-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/11207\/","title":{"rendered":"toxic black rain in Tehran after US-Israel bomb oil facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"&quot;byline&quot;\">by Jon Queally, The Real News Network <br \/>March 9, 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cd_stacked_white_600.png\" alt=\"Common Dreams Logo\" class=\"wp-image-268291 size-full\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/toxic-black-rain-iran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Mar. 08, 2026<\/a>. It is shared here under a\u00a0Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)\u00a0license.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In the wake of infernos unleashed across portions of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/tehran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Tehran<\/a>\u00a0the night before, the people of Iran\u2019s capital woke up Sunday to the hideous sight of ominous gray clouds above, choking-levels of smoke, and black raindrops full of toxic\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/oil\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">oil<\/a>\u00a0falling across the city.<\/p>\n<p>Critics described \u201cscenes of Armageddon\u201d and characterized the bombings and the destruction they triggered as the latest crimes committed by the US and Israel since they launched their unprovoked and illegal assault on the Middle East nation last week.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian officials urged residents to stay in doors to avoid the health impacts of the air quality following Israel\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/iran-oil-depot-bombed-by-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">intentional bombing<\/a>\u00a0of several oil storage and processing facilities in the city on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn top of everything else, Israel and the US have unleashed an environmental disaster in Tehran,\u201d said Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/washington\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Washington<\/a>, DC. \u201cHow many ways can they show you they have no regard for human life?\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Though it is day, the sun cannot be seen in Tehran today because of all the smoke following the US and Israel bombing Tehran&#39;s oil refineries. People on the ground describe it as armageddon.<\/p>\n<p>History will not forgive Reza Pahlavi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and all other\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Sy3LhtaDEK\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/Sy3LhtaDEK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Trita Parsi (@tparsi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tparsi\/status\/2030637994055532854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Red Crescent Society warned that the toxic rainfall in Tehran, home to approximately 10 million people, could be \u201chighly dangerous and acidic\u201d and issued exposure guidelines for residents.<\/p>\n<p>Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foriegn Ministry, condemned the attacks and resulting damage in stark terms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe US-Israeli criminal war against the Iranian nation has entered a dangerous new phase with deliberate strikes on Iran\u2019s energy\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/infrastructure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">infrastructure<\/a>,\u201d said Bagaei in an online statement. \u201cThese attacks on fuel storage facilities amount to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against the Iranian citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy 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,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran\u2019s borders. These strikes constitute\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/war-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">war crimes<\/a>, crimes against humanity, and genocide\u2014all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a Sunday morning video,\u00a0CNN\u00a0correspondent Frederik Pleitgen showed the view from central Tehran, including the black\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/water\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">water<\/a>\u00a0gathering on every surface:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It is raining oil in Tehran this morning after major airstrikes on oil facilities in the South and West of the Iranian capital. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@CNN<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cnni?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@cnni<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2FBD9EnO9p\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/2FBD9EnO9p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frederik Pleitgen (@fpleitgenCNN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fpleitgenCNN\/status\/2030526805589762282?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>Pleitgen also traveled to the Shahran oil depot, among the facilities bombed Saturday, where dark gray smoke continued to billow into the air and he described the amount of damage as \u201cimmense\u201d:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Managed to film at the Shahran oil depot in Western Tehran that was targeted by airstrikes last night. The oil still seems to be burning. We saw flames coming from some of the destroyed oil storage tanks. Also destroyed tanker trucks outside the gate. Sorry for audio issues, was\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DYrsJbaY3t\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/DYrsJbaY3t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Frederik Pleitgen (@fpleitgenCNN) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fpleitgenCNN\/status\/2030611626383331600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough it is day, the sun cannot be seen in Tehran today because of all the smoke following the US and Israel bombing Tehran\u2019s oil refineries,\u201d said Trita Parsi, executive vice president for the Quincy Institute, a US-based foreign policy think tank. \u201cPeople on the ground describe it as armageddon.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Though it is day, the sun cannot be seen in Tehran today because of all the smoke following the US and Israel bombing Tehran&#39;s oil refineries. People on the ground describe it as armageddon.<\/p>\n<p>History will not forgive Reza Pahlavi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and all other\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Sy3LhtaDEK\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/Sy3LhtaDEK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Trita Parsi (@tparsi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tparsi\/status\/2030637994055532854?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>Parsi, who is of Iranian descent, also took aim at members of the Iranian diaspora who for weeks and months have pushed for the US and Israeli governments to attack their own country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHistory,\u201d he said, \u201cwill not forgive Reza Pahlavi, Masih Alinejad, Nazanin Boniadi, and all other \u2018leaders\u2019 who tricked Iranians into thinking this war would set them free.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/therealnews.com\/intentional-chemical-warfare-toxic-black-rain-in-tehran-after-us-israel-bomb-oil-facilities&#8221;&gt;article&lt;\/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/therealnews.com&#8221;&gt;The Real News Network&lt;\/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/&#8221;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&#8221;https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/cropped-TRNN-2021-logomark-square.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&#8221;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;img id=&#8221;republication-tracker-tool-source&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/therealnews.com\/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=341883&amp;amp;ga4=G-7LYS8R7V51&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1px;height:1px;&#8221;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &#8220;https:\/\/therealnews.com\/intentional-chemical-warfare-toxic-black-rain-in-tehran-after-us-israel-bomb-oil-facilities&#8221;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;\/script&gt; &lt;script id=&#8221;parsely-cfg&#8221; src=&#8221;\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/therealnews.com\/p.js&#8221;&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jon Queally, The Real News Network March 9, 2026 This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[1162,34,37,6401,69,392],"class_list":["post-11207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tehran","tag-article","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-reprint","tag-tehran","tag-trump"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116200105831301267","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}