Mar 13, 2026 11:15 am IST

Opinion | Iran-Israel War, And The 'War Logic' Behind Bombing Oil Depots

The thinking presumably was that targeting economic interests may, in some sense, galvanise and mobilise the Iranian public against the current administration. But that didn't happen.

Kabir Taneja Kabir Taneja

One of the defining images of the past week as Israel and the US continue their war against Iran has been the raging fires in oil depots surrounding Tehran, enveloping the capital of around 10 million residents under a thick black cloud of smoke. Amidst the ongoing war, wrapped around a cocktail of unclear kinetic and political aims ranging from regime change to controlling the nuclear file, the centrality of oil as a global energy anchor has been reestablished.

Oil, and by association, energy, has always been political. It remains a driving commodity for global trade and economic stability despite the narratives of alternative and greener fuels slowly taking over. However, that shift is predominantly affordable only in the West. For a large section of the developing world and the Global South, both oil and natural gas remain supreme when it comes to economic stability, and by association, political consistency.

Oil Attacks Aren't New

Striking energy-related infrastructure during a conflict in the Middle East is not new. In fact, it could be wagered that oil has been at the centre of many such geopolitical infractions for decades. It is this 'black........

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