Toxic rain mixed with oil rains down on Tehran as expanding war threatens new global shock

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, making day seem more like night.

Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, making day seem more like night. Toxic rain mixed with oil fell from the air, while a central boulevard was lined by a wall of flame.

This was the scene in Tehran on Sunday following a night of Israeli airstrikes on the city’s oil facilities. It may also capture the mood of international markets as the intensifying war in the Middle East sends energy prices soaring and threatens a period of global economic uncertainty.

In the Iranian capital, authorities said Israeli strikes hit a number of oil and gas facilities in and around the city. In one video geolocated by NBC News, roiling orange flames and belching smoke could be seen rising from the Aghdasieh fuel depot in the city’s northern Tajrish district.

The cloud of smoke blanketed the Iranian capital to such an extent that noon looked more like 10 p.m., according to residents. They reported the smoke left them unable to leave their homes — and barely able to breathe inside.

“I am sitting at home with a headache and my mouth tastes bitter,” Armita, 42, told NBC News on Sunday from inside the city. “It was terrible,” said Mina, 70, who reported that even after the rain had dispersed much of the worst of it, “you can still smell the smoke.” NBC News is only using their first names, given the tense security situation inside the country.