The United States and Israel launched overnight air strikes on five oil facilities in and near Tehran, killing four people and sparking fires that cast a dark haze over the Iranian capital, officials said on Sunday.
Keramat Veyskarami, CEO of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, told state TV that four oil depots and a petroleum products transport centre in Tehran and the nearby Alborz region were targeted.
He confirmed that four personnel, including two oil tanker drivers, were killed, while the fires have since been brought under control.
Smoke from the blazes hung over the city into the morning, and residents reported the lingering smell of burning across several neighbourhoods.
Veyskarami added that Iran’s oil depots maintain sufficient gasoline reserves despite the attacks.
The strikes come after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on February 28, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Tehran against Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East.
The conflict has now escalated into a wider regional war, drawing in global powers and severely affecting energy and transport sectors while unsettling typically peaceful areas across the volatile region.
AFP
