Attacks on oil facilities and missile bases in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran have raised concerns among experts about the harmful legacy on human health and the environment that could linger long after the fighting ends.
Since the conflict began, the UK-based non-profit Conflict Environment Observatory (CEOBS) has identified more than 300 incidents of potential environmental damage, ranging from attacks on missile bases to attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
But researchers say this number likely captures only a fraction of the damage.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” CEOBS director Doug Weir told DW. “The US claims to have attacked 5,000 sites. So we’ve only scratched the surface at this point.”
The United Nations also warned that recent attacks on oil facilities risked “serious environmental impacts across the region, with immediate implications for safe water, the air people need to breathe, and the food they eat.”
One sign of this risk came when “black rain”, a mixture of oil and precipitation, blanketed Tehran’s streets following Israel’s attacks on oil facilities over the weekend.
Thick smoke plumes over Tehran after Israel attacks numerous oil facilities Image: Berno/SIPA/picture Alliance
The fire at the facility sent thick black smoke over the capital, home to about 10 million people, and the Iranian Red Crescent warned residents to stay indoors to avoid toxic pollutants in the air. Some local residents complained of headaches and difficulty breathing.
Zombo See, a professor of atmospheric biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham in the UK, said the smoke likely contained pollutants “including fine particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, but also toxic volatile organic compounds and other dangerous combustion byproducts.”
Such particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and are associated with an increased risk of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, especially among infants, the elderly and people with pre-existing health conditions, Shi added.
UN: Iran war raises ‘serious environmental concerns’
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Bombings: A long toxic legacy
In addition to immediate air pollution, experts warn that bombed military and energy facilities can leave lingering pollution in the environment for years.
As in Iran and other Gulf countries, bombing oil facilities releases toxic pollutants that can spread to nearby communities and accumulate on roads, rooftops, soil and farmland, CEOBS said.
Attacks on military facilities, such as missile bases, can also be extremely dangerous because fires and explosions can spread toxic contaminants such as fuel, heavy metals, PFAS, and explosives. Some of these substances remain long after the battle has ended.
For example, TNT, which is used in munitions and is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), can persist in soil and harm vegetation and human health.
However, it remains difficult to assess the scale of contamination without on-site testing.
“There is very little transparency or certainty about what is contained within these attacked sites,” Weir said. “We know in general terms that it may contain military materials, some of which are toxic, such as propellants and missile fuel, but we don’t have any specific details or data about what is there or what has been destroyed.”
Weir’s group can only use satellite imagery, radar damage maps, social media and news reports to assess potential environmental risks from afar.
The Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint
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Marine ecosystems in crisis
U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran’s navy, as well as Iranian government attacks on ships attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, also increase the risk of oil spills.
The Persian Gulf is home to vast coral reefs and important marine ecosystems, including fish, pearl oysters, green sea turtles, and kelp beds that are home to the world’s second-largest population of endangered dugongs. Fishing villages also live off seafood in these waters.
The Persian Gulf has the second largest population of dugongs after Australia Image: Andrey Nekrasov/ZUMAPRESS.com/picture Alliance
“This is an aspect that you don’t necessarily see very often in most conflicts,” Weir said. “We have also seen a number of coastal areas attacked by Israel where there is a high potential for pollutants to enter the coastal environment.”
The United States said Wednesday that it had attacked more than 60 Iranian vessels during the fighting.
Weir said sunken ships could become a long-term source of pollution if fuel or other hazardous materials leak into surrounding waters. He added that an Iranian frigate that was torpedoed during the conflict is currently leaking an oil slick several kilometers long off the coast of Sri Lanka.
“It’s not just the Persian Gulf that’s at risk,” Weir said. “These environmental impacts are now reaching Sri Lanka.”
Attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz increase risk of oil spill Image: Royal Thai Navy/ROPI/picture Alliance
The carbon footprint of war is large.
Another way in which environmental impacts extend beyond conflict zones is through the massive carbon emissions that cause global warming caused by the war effort.
For example, the first three years of Russia’s war in Ukraine produced at least 230 million tons of CO2, according to the nonprofit War Greenhouse Gas Accounting Initiative. This is equivalent to the annual emissions of Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia combined.
The war in Ukraine is also taking a toll on the environment Image: Dmytro Smolyenko/Avalon/Photo Alliance
The military itself is a large consumer of fossil fuels. If the world’s militaries were compared to countries, they would have the world’s fourth largest carbon footprint, accounting for about 5.5% of global emissions.
But countries do not have to include military emissions in their reporting totals as part of their obligations to limit global warming under the Paris Climate Agreement.
Mr Weir said when it comes to the environmental legacy of war, the focus is often on what is tangible.
“We’re seeing fires, we’re seeing explosions, we’re seeing craters, we’re seeing military vehicle movements, we’re seeing millions of kilometers of fiber optic cables strung through forests and along the front lines. It’s like what we’re seeing in Ukraine right now,” he said.
How does the military keep its CO2 emissions secret?
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Postwar reconstruction
Iran was already facing severe environmental pressures, including chronic water shortages, worsening air pollution, and degradation of key ecosystems, which were exacerbated by climate change and state mismanagement.
War has deepened those challenges. Weir noted that governance is often weak after conflict, and environmental protection takes a backseat in the transition from war to peace.
Weir believes this is probably the case with Iran, which he said is “typically a very secretive and closed-off country when it comes to the environment and environmental damage.”
Weir added that it was unclear how open the Iranian regime would be about the need for a cleanup if it remained, or how much support it would receive from the international community.
“We are witnessing a lot of environmental damage, and the future is likely to have little environmental transparency and very limited ability to clean up or manage the damage caused.”
Editor: Jennifer Collins
