The attempt to topple the Iranian government is pushing the Middle East into an increasingly deadly spiral of destruction
Israeli strikes on oil storage facilities near Tehran over the weekend temporarily turned the Iranian capital into a fire-lit “hellscape,” with long-term environmental and health damage expected.
Though Israel claimed that the targets were military, Iran said the effects are comparable to chemical warfare on civilians. Even supporters of the US-Israeli regime-change war expressed unease.
Fire-lit streets, black acid rain
On the night of Saturday to Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces struck oil infrastructure sites in and near Tehran, including at least four major fuel reservoirs. The operation “significantly deepens the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime,” the Israeli government said.
Footage from Tehran shows massive fires with black fumes billowing.
In some cases, fuel apparently spilled into drainage systems and later ignited, sending long lines of flames along the streets. Eyewitnesses described the scenes as infernal.
By morning, Tehran residents reported black-stained “acid rain” falling from the sky, leaving stains on everything it touched.
People complained of headaches, a foul taste in their mouths, breathing problems, and other symptoms of air pollution.
The strikes “amount to nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against the Iranian citizens,” Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on X. “The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran’s borders.”
Tehran residents vulnerable
Large fuel fires produce massive amounts of toxic chemicals and particulates that pose immediate and prolonged health risks. Soot, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, trace metals, and other harmful substances hit people with respiratory conditions and the elderly particularly hard. Long-term, these pollutants can cause severe conditions, including cancer. Driven high up in the atmosphere, they can travel thousands of miles; deposited on the ground, they pollute groundwater.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
