Watch: Israel strikes several oil depots in Iran; towering smoke, massive blaze light up skyline

Explosions rocked Tehran and the neighboring city of Karaj on Saturday after the Israeli military struck several fuel storage complexes, sending huge balls of fire and smoke into the sky.Videos circulating on social media showed massive columns of flames rising from the attacked areas.The attacks, reportedly the first on Iran’s energy infrastructure since last weekend’s US-Israeli strikes, targeted multiple oil storage depots in Tehran and Alborz provinces. One depot in Karaj, just west of Tehran, was also hit. Tehran’s main oil refinery is located near the Shahr Rey district, one of the areas targeted, and the Shahran oil depot in northwestern Tehran- previously struck by Israel last June- was hit again, sending a dark plume of smoke into the sky.

Iran’s ministry of oil said fire and emergency crews were working to put out the flames, and emphasised there would be no fuel or energy shortages, as precautions had been taken in anticipation of such strikes. An Iranian oil ministry source, as cited by Times of Israel, confirmed that three depots in western Tehran were struck by Israeli fighter jets, in the Kuhak and Shahran areas, as well as the facility in Karaj.The Israeli military confirmed the strikes, saying the fuel storage and energy complexes were being used by Iran’s armed forces. Israel called it a “significant strike” aimed at dismantling the military infrastructure of the Iranian government. “The military forces of the Iranian terror regime make direct and frequent use of these fuel tanks to operate military infrastructure. Through them, the Iranian terror regime distributes fuel to various consumers, including military entities in Iran,” the IDF said. “The strike constitutes an additional step in deepening the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime.”Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said it had launched a new wave of attacks on Israel in retaliation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran would continue. He said the “moment of truth is drawing near” for Iranians to overthrow their government, emphasizing that Israel is “not trying to divide Iran” but rather “trying to free Iran.”Netanyahu outlined an ongoing strategy, saying Israel has “an organized plan with many surprises” for the next phase of the war, “to destabilize the regime, to enable change.” He told Iranians, “It depends on you” to oust the regime and predicted that its overthrow would bring peace between Israel and Iran.In addition to fuel depots, the Israeli military said it struck Iran’s two “most central” ballistic missile sites, marking an expansion of the strikes to the country’s military and energy infrastructure.