A toxic rain of oil is falling on Tehran as the escalating war threatens a new global shock

Black smoke billowed into the sky, making the day seem like night. Poisonous rain mixed with oil fell from the air, while the central road was surrounded by a wall of flame.

This happened in Tehran on Sunday following an attack by Israeli planes on oil facilities in the city. It could also weigh on international markets as the escalating war in the Middle East sends energy prices soaring and threatens a period of global economic uncertainty.

In the Iranian capital, authorities say Israeli strikes have hit dozens of oil and gas facilities in and around the city. In one video posted by NBC News, burning orange flames and billowing smoke can be seen rising from the Aghdasieh oil depot in the northern city of Tajrish.

A cloud of smoke covered the capital of Iran so that it was almost like 10 o’clock at night, according to residents. They reported that the smoke left them unable to leave their homes – and unable to breathe inside.

“I’m sitting at home with a headache and my mouth feels bitter,” Armita, 42, told NBC News on Sunday from downtown. “It was very bad,” said Mina, 70, who reported that even after the rain had washed away the worst, “you can still smell the smoke.” NBC News is using only their first names, given the heightened security situation in the country.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement that on Saturday night, they bombed fuel storage facilities in Tehran.

The Iranian Environmental Protection Organization warned people to stay indoors, as the explosion released large amounts of toxic hydrocarbons and sulfur and nitrogen oxides.

The rain that followed could be “highly acidic and dangerous, causing chemical burns to the skin and severe lung damage,” it said. If the rain touches the skin, do not rub it, rinse immediately with cold running water.

Along with the rain, the oil itself that was released into the air by the explosion fell on cars and people. On at least one street, oil seeped into the garbage from Koohsar Boulevard, in the city’s Shahran neighborhood, according to videos compiled by NBC News.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the attack was similar to chemical warfare.

“Aggressors are releasing harmful and toxic substances into the air, poisoning people, destroying the environment, and endangering lives on a large scale,” Baqaei wrote in X.

Tehran has been a hotbed of war, hit by strikes from the United States and Israel that have rattled windows and given residents sleepless nights. Others have stood on the roof to watch the coming attack.

As the sky filled with black smoke on Sunday, security forces directed vehicles while wearing special jackets and masks to protect themselves.

What the Israeli army did, this attack may show that “the appetite for risk in the US and Israel in terms of the mission is different,” according to Michael Stephens, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank based in London.

He said it was a recurring theme throughout the conflict: “There are different US and Israeli timelines, mission goals and objectives, and a lack of alignment” on the risks they were willing to take, he said.

The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

But Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International questioned whether the refineries were legitimate military bases and whether the Israeli army had taken “all possible precautions to prevent harm to civilians.”

“The harm to civilians, including the release of toxic drugs, seems to indicate that the security measures taken are too small and that the harm to civilians is serious,” he said in a statement on Monday.

The scenes of hell in Tehran were a sign of the direct connection between this war, energy infrastructure and global markets.

Iran has the world’s third-largest oil reserves, and the conflict has had serious consequences. Iran is strangling the vital Strait of Hormuz and attacking oil facilities across the Middle East in a deadly retaliation campaign against the entire oil and gas world.

Arab officials told NBC News that Iran’s strategy is to raise oil prices in the hope that that will create pressure for a ceasefire.

On Sunday, the price of oil fell below $100 for the first time since July 2022, a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in recent months.

US crude oil futures rose more than 25%, at one point reaching around $115 per barrel, while Brent, the international benchmark, jumped more than 20%, to $110 per barrel.

At the start of trading on Monday morning, both indices had retreated slightly.

But Mohammad Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, warned that prices could remain above $100 “for a long time” to come.

“The economic consequences of this widespread and infrastructural war across the region and the world will be very large and long-lasting,” he was quoted as saying by the official ISNA news agency.

According to Greg Brew, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group think tank, oil markets have been able to absorb the pressure created by the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions for months. That ranges from allowing Ukraine to push back against Russia with bombings and tanks to the US blocking Venezuela.

“For months this manager has been pushing the envelope on what the oil markets can take,” he wrote in X. “Every time they were able to attack without scaring them, they became braver.” That increases “the likelihood that they would go overboard and do something really catastrophic.”