Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn

Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, stands in front of the Shahran oil depot targeted in the airstrikes. The group has warned toxic chemicals spread by the explosions could lead to acid rain and damage the skin and lungs. Photograph: Sipa US/Alamy

Israel’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.

Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes.