A dark and killing cloud over Tehran

And over a shamed America

I know that I just sent out an edition of this newsletter over the weekend, but hours after it was published, the U.S./Israeli force mounted another series of strikes, these on oil storage sites across the vast city of Tehran. The effect was astonishing—a cloud of truly toxic smoke—and I think it needs more notice than it’s been getting, even amidst all the other horrors of this war. This was in essence chemical warfare, even if the chemicals were the (easily anticipated) result of “normal” bombs. And it affected an almost entirely civilian population, that will be paying the price for decades to come. If we’re going to do this we should at least have to look at it. So, I’m going to offer a few images, and a few firsthand quotes gathered by reporters on the ground

.The above picture is from near the Shahran oil depot, where this tanker was apparently filling up to take gasoline across the city. It’s the sky that you should look at—that jet-black (this was daytime) horizon. Here’s Al Jazeera’s reporting this morning:

The attacks systematically targeted four major storage facilities and a distribution centre, including the Tehran refinery in the south and depots in Aghdasieh, Shahran, and Karaj. In the Shahran district, witnesses reported unrefined oil leaking directly into the streets as temperatures hovered around 13C (55F).

Ansari from Iran’s Department of Environment stated that the environment remains the silent victim of the war, noting that the incineration of vast fuel reserves has trapped the capital under a suffocating shroud of pollutants.

The medical and environmental fallout is immediate and severe. The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned that the smoke contains high concentrations of toxic hydrocarbons, sulphur, and nitrogen oxides. The organisation noted that any rainfall passing through these plumes becomes highly acidic, posing risks of skin burns and severe lung damage upon contact or inhalation.

Agence France Presse told the story like this:

“I thought my alarm clock was broken,” a driver in his fifties told AFP on condition of anonymity.

By 10.30am local time, cars still needed their headlights to drive along Valiasr Street, a main thoroughfare that runs north-south through the city.

Black smoke from the burning fuel depots mingled in the sky with heavy grey rain clouds, compounding the murky atmosphere.

And here’s the Guardian reporting on what that feels like to the people living there

Speaking to the Guardian via voice notes, Negin – not her real name – an activist and former political prisoner based in the central-east side of the city, said the situation was “apocalyptic”.

“The situation is so frightening it’s hard to describe. Smoke has covered the entire city. I have severe shortness of breath and burning in my eyes and throat, and many others feel the same. But people still have to go outside because they have no choice. Many places reopened today, but closed again because it’s impossible to stay outdoors.”

They also heard from a woman, Mehnaz, who wanted to flee after the initial strikes Saturday night.

Tehran is burning. And smoke has filled the streets. It’s impossible to drive out of the city right now and even with the windows closed, heavy smoke is making its way inside … [I am] clueless whether to stay in or brave the flames and drive out while it’s still on fire. I don’t even have a mask.”

Eventually, around noon yesterday, she decided she had to brave it and leave

“The Rey depot, you won’t believe, was still on fire and it’s insane because in the night it looked like day and in the day, it was so dark, it looked like a new moon night. So, so dark, just like our futures.”

I’m afraid she’s right about their futures. Here’s a report on how urban warfare in Fallujah, Iraq caused a higher cancer rate than in the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing; here’s a report on how smoke from the Los Angeles wildfires will doubtless lead to widespread health problems in the years ahead.

I am aware that this is “how warfare is,” though theoretically we should try to limit the harm caused to civilian populations, especially since this is entirely a war of choice and aggression. I think we’re making no such effort: indeed, our Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has been endlessly boasting about the cruelty of his strategy. “We are punching them while they are down, which is exactly how it should be,” he said, which is the least honorable thing I think I’ve ever heard a military leader say.

This is chemical warfare, as inhumane in its way as the attacks on the girl’s school or on what may have been an unarmed warship off the Sri Lankan coast. And among other things it completely undercuts one of Trump’s rationales for his assault: that it will free Iranians to rise up against their government. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” he told Iranians on the night of the first attacks. Revolts, however, generally require people to take to the streets. And that requires breathing the air.

Another picture

And another

Normally I’d offer other energy and climate news, but I’m not going to bother sharing anything else right now. The price of oil climbs higher by the hour, the argument for clean energy gets more obvious by the minute, and it is up to all of us to push hard for a new American government that’s part of the solution, not the cause of the crisis.