Israel has launched one of its most audacious strikes of the war, pounding three major Iranian oil depots in a coordinated night raid that has set critical energy hubs ablaze and jolted global markets, defence and industry sources say.
Shortly after midnight, waves of Israeli F‑35 and F‑15 strike jets swept in from multiple directions, firing stand‑off missiles at vast storage complexes near Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Kharg Island. Satellite imagery reviewed by analysts shows entire tank farms engulfed in fire, with rows of giant crude tanks ruptured and pipelines spewing flaming oil into the night.
The IDF is calling the operation a “precision strike on the financial lungs of Iran’s war machine,” claiming all three depots were directly tied to revenue streams funding the IRGC’s missile and drone programs. Israeli officials insist flight paths and aim points were chosen to avoid nearby residential areas, though local footage shows shockwaves shattering windows in coastal towns and lighting the sky orange for kilometres.
Tehran admits “serious damage” at the depots and says dozens of firefighters and oil workers have been injured battling infernos “unlike anything seen since the Iran–Iraq war.” Authorities have cut flows through several major pipelines while emergency crews race to prevent the blazes from spreading to adjacent refineries and export terminals.
Oil traders reacted instantly: benchmark prices spiked, tanker operators ordered last‑minute course changes, and insurers slapped fresh surcharges on any vessel calling at Iranian ports or even transiting near the Gulf coast. Analysts warn that the destruction of three top‑tier depots could cripple Iran’s export capacity for weeks, if not months.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has vowed “full‑spectrum retaliation” on Israeli and allied energy infrastructure, raising fears that refineries, gas fields and offshore platforms from Haifa to the Gulf monarchies could now be in the crosshairs — and that a brutal shadow war has just crashed head‑on into the world’s energy lifeline.
