Residents of Tehran woke up on March 8 morning to find it was still dark outside, an apocalyptic sight created by thick black smoke billowing from oil depots hit by Israeli strikes.
With the Sun blotted out, disoriented people in the Iranian capital had to turn on their lights to see through the gloom.
"I thought my alarm clock was broken," a driver in his fifties told AFP on condition of anonymity.
By 10:30 am local time (0700 GMT), cars still needed their headlights to drive along Valiasr Street, a main thoroughfare that runs north-south through the city.
Black smoke from the burning fuel depots mingled in the sky with heavy grey rain clouds, compounding the murky atmosphere.
The smoke spread across the sprawling city, normally home to more than 10 million people.
The fuel depot strikes are the first time Iranian oil infrastructure has been targeted during the nine-day war.
The fighting began when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran last weekend and has since engulfed the Middle East.
Israel's military confirmed it had struck "fuel storage facilities in Tehran" that it said were used "to operate military infrastructure".
Four oil depots and a petroleum logistics site in and around Tehran were hit. Local authorities said six people were killed and 20 wounded at one of the sites. AFP could not independently verify these numbers.
At one of the depots, the oil was still smoldering on March 8.
Flames were flaring up and crackling more than 12 hours after the strikes, an AFP reporter witnessed.
Israel also attacked fuel depots in Tehran during a 12-day war last June.
On the streets of Tehran, security forces directed traffic while wearing special coats and masks to protect themselves.
Authorities warned that the noxious fumes can cause breathing problems and irritate eyes, urging residents to stay indoors.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that "significant quantities of toxic hydrocarbons, sulfur and nitrogen oxides" were released into the air.
The windows of nearby buildings were blown out by the force of the explosions.
Dozens of kilometers away from the fuel depots, residents swept their balconies, which were covered by a mix of rain and puddles of fuel.
