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Black, Oily Rain Hits Tehran After US-Israeli Strikes on Fuel Facilities

Scientists attribute the phenomenon to a storm that pulled polluted plumes into rain clouds, producing contaminated precipitation.

Overview

  • The Israel Defense Forces confirmed bombing fuel storage sites in and around Tehran, igniting large fires that sent thick smoke across the capital.
  • Residents reported dark, oily rainfall, breathing difficulties and headaches as Iranian agencies warned the precipitation could be highly acidic and hazardous.
  • Meteorologists describe the event as atmospheric scavenging, with a passing extratropical storm drawing soot and petroleum vapors into rain clouds.
  • Fresh satellite analyses captured a dense smoke plume stretching about 67 kilometers over Tehran and showed elevated nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide levels following the strikes.
  • Pakistan’s Meteorological Department said polluted winds from Iran could degrade air quality in western Pakistan and is monitoring conditions, while noting no effects have been observed there so far.