‘Apocalyptic Scene’: CNN Reports Live From Site of Tehran Oil Strike

CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen reported live from on the ground in Tehran on Sunday following an Israeli airstrike on a major oil depot, which he said left an “apocalyptic scene” on the ground.

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan introduced the report with the network’s regular note, “A reminder, CNN operates in the country with the permission of the Iranian government, but maintains full editorial control over what we report. Here’s his report.”

“It’s an absolutely apocalyptic scene here,” Pleitgen said with a massive plume of thick black smoke behind him.

“We’ve just made it to the Shahran oil depot, which was attacked last night in a massive wave of airstrikes. We heard those going on for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, with massive thuds and then explosions that we could hear. And that thick black plume of smoke — we saw that last night, and now we’re actually seeing it up close,” he continued, adding:

And what we’re also seeing is that some of those destroyed storage tanks are still on fire. There’s still flames originating from them. You can also see here that the area around here is also completely destroyed. There are people here actually working on this electricity pole to try and get the electricity back. And then this tanker vehicle here, also right in front of the gate, has been completely destroyed as well.

The front gate of the facility is also in complete ruins. The facility appears to be completely in ruins now after these massive airstrikes, and again, still on fire, still burning, and you can see that thick black smoke through the entire city, across all of Tehran. It’s been raining this morning in Tehran — there was oil mixed into the rain — so this is definitely a massive incident that is still going on.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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