Tehran woke up choking on smoke after joint US and Israeli strikes ignited a mᴀssive oil depot on the edge of the capital, unleashing terrifying scenes that Iranians are now sharing under one viral hashtag: “river of fire.”

The overnight raid hit a major fuel storage and distribution hub in Tehran’s southern industrial belt, near key highways and residential districts. Precision munitions punched into storage tanks and pumping lines, sending burning fuel cascading into drainage channels and along a ring‑road underpᴀss. Phone videos show a literal stream of flame snaking beside traffic, cars swerving away as explosions boom in the background.

Emergency services report multiple ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and dozens injured, many burned or overcome by toxic fumes. Several neighbouring workshops and apartment blocks were scorched as fire leapt across access roads; rolling blackouts followed as grid stations tripped under the strain. Authorities insist the blaze is “under control,” but thick, oily smoke still blankets wide swathes of the city.

US Central Command says the depot was a “critical logistics node” feeding IRGC missile and drone operations, while the IDF calls it a direct strike on “the cash pipeline of Iran’s regional war machine.” Tehran accuses Washington and Jerusalem of “economic terrorism,” vowing retaliation on energy infrastructure “from Haifa to the Gulf monarchies.”

Oil prices spiked and insurers immediately hiked war‑risk premiums for tankers near the Gulf, fuelling fears that last night’s river of fire may be more than a social‑media image — it could be the opening sH๏τ in a full‑blown energy war with consequences far beyond Tehran’s burning skyline.