US and Israeli strikes ignite fires at Tehran oil depots

Joint US and Israeli air strikes struck fuel depots in and around Tehran and in Karaj overnight, sending towering plumes of black smoke across neighborhoods, coating streets in soot and forcing authorities to tell residents to stay inside. A Getty Images photograph dated 8 March 2026 shows smoke rising over depot tanks, and video from Tehran captured a street on fire near one facility as people scrambled to shelter.

Residents described scenes of sudden devastation. "It was as if night had turned into day," one resident told the BBC. A woman from Tehran said, "You can smell the burning. I can't see the sun. There is a horrible smoke. It's still there, I'm very tired." A man from Karaj described a "huge explosion and it was on fire for hours," and footage includes a voice saying "shops and homes were ablaze."

The Guardian described thick black smoke filling the sky, balconies layered with black residue and roads covered in soot as Tehran woke after the night strikes. The report named the Rey depot as still burning and quoted a local woman who said, "The Rey depot, you won’t believe, was still on fire and it’s insane because in the night it looked like day and in the day, it was so dark, it looked like a new moon night. So, so dark, just like our futures." She added a metaphor about the sky and city life: "While I was leaving I noticed there wasn’t a single bird in the sky and you know what they say? When the birds abandon you, you are truly on your own. We have so many cats in the city. If these attacks continue, whoever rules here next, they will rule over a democracy of cats. But then even cats have only nine lives."

Authorities warned of immediate public‑health risks. Iran’s environmental agency advised people in Tehran to remain indoors, Tehran’s governor recommended wearing masks outside and the Iran Red Crescent warned that toxic chemicals from burning fuel could lead to acid rain and harm the skin and lungs. The Red Crescent urged people to avoid turning on air conditioners or going outside immediately after rainfall and to protect exposed food. Dr Shahram Kordasti, a UK-based Iranian haemato-oncologist, warned that the toxic gases and fine particulate matter could irritate eyes and airways, worsen asthma and heart disease and raise some long-term cancer risks.

The strikes compounded logistical strains. The Guardian reported long queues at gas stations and rationing, with limits on how much people could fill, and said some depots remained ablaze, threatening fuel supplies for civilians and emergency services.

The attacks are part of a broader campaign that, the BBC reported, began with the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and entered its second week. Iran has said it has struck US allies and assets across the region in response. Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told the BBC, "The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands." The BBC also summarized US President Donald Trump’s justification that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States over its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran rejects, saying its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.

Photographs and video from Getty Images and Reuters document the fires and smoke, but officials have not released a full inventory of damage. Iran’s Assembly of Experts says it has reached a consensus on a successor to Khamenei, but has not disclosed a name. For now, Tehran residents face the immediate consequences: toxic air, disrupted fuel supplies and an intensified conflict that has pushed daily life toward crisis.