Iran oil facilities hit for first time as war with US-Israel enters day 9
Thick smoke has filled the sky over Tehran after Israeli air strikes hit Iran’s oil facilities for the first time since the war started, killing at least four people.
Joint attacks on Iran by Israel and the United States continued
for a ninth day on Sunday, killing more than 1,300 people in Iran and about 300 in Lebanon. About a dozen people have been killed in Israel, according to officials.
The strikes on Saturday sparked large fires as they hit four oil storage facilities and an oil production transfer centre in Tehran and the province of Alborz, the Fars news agency reported, with the Iranian state media describing it as an “attack from the US and the Zionist regime”.
The Aghdasieh oil warehouse in northeast Tehran, the Tehran refinery in the south, the Shahran oil depot in the west of Tehran, and an oil depot in Karaj city were the facilities targeted. Witnesses said oil from the Shahran depot had leaked into the streets.
At least four tanker drivers were killed in the attacks in Tehran and Alborz, Fars reported. Despite the attack, “there is no shortage of fuel distribution”, and security forces are “currently engaged in firefighting operations”, it added.
Israel said it struck “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” that were used “to operate military infrastructure”.
Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said the
attacks on a civil industrial facility were unprecedented.
“This is not the first time. Back in June, during the 12-day war, we saw fuel depots being targeted, but this is unprecedented,” Asadi said.
“We are dealing with a critical situation in terms of war and environmental circumstances in the capital.”
He described seeing black raindrops on his windows early on Sunday morning. “There is a high risk of being surrounded by toxic air.”
Asadi said there are “serious concerns” about the rising number of casualties among civilians.
“Three days ago, the tally was at about 1,300, but we know that in the past days, intensive strikes targeting Iranian territory have continued, so it’s likely that the number has gone up,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, also reporting from Tehran, said the attacks on oil facilities are part of a “psychological war” against Iranians, “to frighten them and make them believe that it’s really going to be the end for them”.
They are also aimed at limiting the mobility of Iranian troops, he added.
“The Israelis are probably planning to cause a situation of crisis in terms of fuel in Iran, and Iranians will consider this as an act of aggression and terrorism,” Vall said.
Still, Iran is a large country with many such facilities, so it is doubtful the strike will cause a full crisis, he added.
