‘Oil rain’ falls on Tehran after apocalyptic strikes on refineries

• Capital plunges into darkness; residents warned of chemical burns, acrid fumes• Lebanon terrorised as Israeli strike targets Beirut hotel• Israel, Trump vow to pursue, kill any successor to Khamenei• Iran unleashes missiles on Gulf neighbours; Pezeshkian says they were ‘forced to respond’• Arab League condemns ‘reckless’ Iranian attacks as diplomacy falters• Bahrain blames Tehran for attack on water plant

TEHRAN: Residents of Iran’s capital awoke on Sunday to a darkened, apocalyptic sky as a black, oily rain fell, a day after Israeli airstrikes targeted refineries and fuel depots, plunging the sprawling metropolis into a toxic gloom.

The nine-day-old war launched by a US-Israeli coalition against Iran has now engulfed much of the Middle East, with strikes and counter-strikes rocking Lebanon, Iraq and several Gulf Arab nations.

In Tehran, the sun was blotted out by thick black smoke billowing from oil facilities that continued to smoulder more than 12 hours after being hit. “I thought my alarm clock was broken,” one driver told AFP. By mid-morning, drivers still needed headlights to navigate main thoroughfares.

CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen described it as “raining oil”, saying the rainwater was “black, also saturated, it appears with oil”. He added, “breathing the air feels quite toxic”.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned civilians of severe health risks, cautioning that the “significant quantities of toxic hydrocarbons, sulfur and nitrogen oxides” released could cause chemical burns and lung damage.

Tehran’s provincial governor advised citizens to wear face masks, as authorities worked to resolve what they called a “temporarily interrupted” fuel supply that led to long lines at gas stations. The chaos in the capital was a direct consequence of a broad offensive targeting Iran’s military and industrial infrastructure.

The Israeli military confirmed it had launched a “wave of strikes across Iran”, hitting military sites.

A military statement said it had targeted and dismantled the “space force headquarters” of Iran’s Islamic Revo­lutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, a facility it claimed was used to operate the “Khayyam” surveillance satellite.

Further strikes by the US and Israel hit five oil facilities in and near Tehran, according to an official with the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company.

At least four tanker drivers were killed in the attacks, the Fars news agency reported. In Iran’s central Isfahan province, at least 11 people were killed in what Iranian media described as US-Israeli attacks on manufacturing workshops........

© Dawn Business