Tehran residents warned of acid rain after oil storage attack
Source: Financial Times
Tehran residents warned of acid rain after oil storage attack
Iran’s Red Crescent Society tells locals to avoid exposure as capital is engulfed in smoke
Massive plumes of smoke spread across various parts of Tehran on Sunday, enveloping it in darkness © Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters
Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehra
Published 8 HOURS AGO
Residents of Tehran have been warned to stay indoors to avoid potential exposure to acidic rain after Israel attacked major fuel-storage facilities in Iran’s capital.
The strikes have caused not only petrol shortages but hazardous pollution as massive plumes of smoke spread across various parts of the city on Sunday, enveloping it in darkness.
Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned that rainfall in Tehran, home to about 10mn people, could be “highly dangerous and acidic” and issued guidelines for residents in case they were exposed.
Iran’s meteorological organisation said the darkness currently hanging over Tehran was caused by a combination of smoke and cloud cover. It added that there would be no wind in the capital on Sunday, though winds forecast for Monday morning could help begin clearing the smoke.
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Tehran’s Shahran oil depot was one of three in the capital targeted by Israel © Reuters
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Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/d08d89bb-89f5-41c2-9835-e3ac59b67cfa
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Black ‘Toxic’ Rain Falls On Tehran After Air Strikes Hit Oil Sites
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/03/08/black-toxic-rain-falls-on-tehran-after-air-strikes-hit-oil-refineries/
Zachary Folk, Mar 08, 2026, 11:39am EDT
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Black clouds gathered over Tehran and rain saturated with what appeared to be oil fell on the city after Israeli air strikes hit oil refineries and infrastructure overnight—one day before Iran’s Assembly of Experts told state media it came to a consensus to pick a new supreme leader.
In a pair of statements on Telegram, Iran’s Red Crescent Society warned the rain in Tehran could be contaminated with “toxic hydrocarbon compounds,” as well as “sulfur and nitrogen oxides”—which cause acid rain with the potential to cause chemical burns and lung damage.
The clouds formed after Israel targeted an oil storage facility in Tehran in late-night strikes on Saturday, the Associated Press reported, as the war takes a significant toll on the oil industry across the Middle East and threatens to raise oil prices even higher.
The medical society warned people in Tehran to shelter indoors and cover any openings with damp pieces of cloth, and remove any clothes contaminated by the rain water and seal them in a bag.
After the rainfall, the Red Crescent also recommended people in Tehran pressure wash their vehicles and exteriors of their homes to prevent buildup that can then flow back into the air as “toxic dust.”
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