"A terrifying sound of missiles in the sky, a lot of them"
Eyewitness accounts of an intense bombing campaign on Tehran right now.
Moments ago, news broke that there is widespread electricity cuts throughout Tehran. Darkness has descended on Iran’s capital city after reports of intense and widespread bombing of Tehran about an hour ago.
While this substack is not about breaking news, I had noticed something different when in my personal groups the few people who had managed to connect said that the attacks that started about midnight felt unrelenting and different. One person speculated that it felt like it had on what turned out to be the last day of the 12 day war in June 2025 when Tehran was subject massive bombings right before the ceasefire went into effect.
Vahid Online1, a widely followed social-media account that receives, collects, and rapidly shares eyewitness videos, reports, and news, particularly about protests, security incidents, and politics in Iran, had posted a collected of eyewitness reports sent to them a little before midnight as people in the northwest town of Soltaniyeh began to see fighter jets moving towards Tehran. While each eyewitness report is not verifiable, they seem to match the videos and the messages I received.
Below is a quick translation of the Vahid Online post. Starting with 00:10 line, the reports are about Tehran and nearby Karaj.
As you will read below, eyewitnesses reported some of the explosions were blue/green, something they say they not seen before. Using ChatGPT, I created a map of the parts of Tehran mentioned in these eyewitness reports to give a sense of how widespread and intense they are.2 At the end, I’ve included one of the videos showing the blue explosions.
From Vahid Online, posted 4:47 pm
23:53 — A lot of fighter jets passed over the city of Soltaniyeh (Zanjan) heading toward Tehran, I think.
Right now many fighter jets are flying over the sky of Isfahan.
11:55 PM, Monday, 18 Esfand.
An explosion is expected…
00:05 AM — Qazvin
A terrifying sound of missiles in the sky, a lot of them.
They are heading toward Tehran.
00:10 — Attacks on Tehran have started.
00:12 — In Shahrak-e Vali-Asr, the sound of four bombs just now.
Right now from where we are in Mirdamad we heard a very loud sound.
It might have been toward Mosalla.
The sound of fighter jets is still ongoing.
Vahid is hitting the west repeatedly.
I’m in Kashani Street.
The house is shaking.
00:15 AM
Tuesday, 19 Esfand
They are hitting Tehran simultaneously.
Shahriar, Pakdasht, and northwest Tehran are being struck at the same time.
Fighter jets are flying at low altitude.
Vahid hit the east again five or six times near Narmak and Majidiyeh.
They struck the Imam Hossein University area in northeast Tehran five times between 00:10 and 00:16.
Everything shook and the sky lit up.
South Janat Abad — all the windows are shaking.
What are they even hitting? Fighter jet sounds have been going on for about 15 minutes.
Tehran, Mirdamad, Tuesday 00:10.
We are near Sattarkhan.
We heard several strong explosions.
00:15.
Right now again the sound of low-flying aircraft and consecutive explosions in Tehran and Karaj.
00:15.
Karaj — an impact just now.
Area: Golshahr – Sepah – Jomhouri.
It was very strange: fighter jets filling the sky, then a lightning-like flash and a green light appeared in the sky, and a few seconds later an explosion.
I had never seen something like that before.
Strong explosions in Karaj near Mohammadshahr.
19 Esfand at 00:05 and 00:11.
Our power went out.
From midnight on 19 Esfand, fighter jets were heard over Ekbatan Town and several consecutive explosions were heard at Mehrabad Airport.
Karaj, Gohardasht —
Usually the sounds come from far away, but tonight it’s really bad.
South Tehran — more than 20 explosion sounds.
For 5–6 seconds the sky turned red.
I don’t know what they hit.
We heard three very strong explosions 5 minutes ago.
We are in Baqershahr — it was very intense.
A few minutes ago near our house in Qeytarieh the ground shook twice.
Around 00:15 AM Tuesday, 19 Esfand.
You could hear aircraft too.
Karaj — four bomb sounds.
Fighter jets were flying very low and you could clearly hear them.
In Mirdamad the windows shook — two very strong explosions.
Near Jordan Street many terrifying sounds along with fighter jets.
00:10 — strong explosion in Banafsha Town, Karaj.
Our power is out and the sound of fighter jets continues.
From 00:07 today, 19 Esfand, the sound of fighter jets has been constant and several places have been bombed.
I’m below Takht-e Tavous Street and every time they hit there was a huge flash from east and west.
Very unusual compared to previous days.
Around Seyed Khandan we heard four explosions and fighter jets flying.
It feels like the last night of the war — they’re firing in bursts.
Sepah Square.
Hello — from South Qeytarieh and Dowlat Street we heard a nearby explosion but I don’t know the exact location.
Around 00:10
Low-altitude fighter jet over Baghestan, Karaj.
Several explosions with bright light toward the southeast — possibly near the oil depot or that direction.
Red and green lights!
First time I had seen green light.
Several explosions 20–30 seconds apart.
About 10 minutes of continuous fighter jet noise.
Vahid — it seems they hit Nazarabad in Alborz again.
Not sure exactly where.
Mehrshahr, Eram Boulevard and municipality area —
10 minutes ago the house shook completely.
00:15 — I think they hit Ajodanieh.
The sound was terrifying and woke us up.
The sound of passing fighter jets was clearly audible.
Mehrshahr, Karaj —
On the four-lane road number 10 they hit very hard.
I heard the sound of a missile.
It was very close.
I don’t know what they hit.
30-Meter-Ji Street near the airport — several terrifying sounds.
People saying they saw green light — we also saw it in Niavaran but less intense.
First the sky lit up slightly and then the explosion sound came.
Very heavy attack… many fighter jets in the west.
I saw three points, all around Mehrabad and Azadi.
The fighter jet noise was the most intense since the first day.
It seemed like they were flying very low.
Vahid — it seems they hit the airport again because it had the same strange light as the last time.
At least 4–5 strong explosions around Ekbatan.
Mehrshahr, Municipality Boulevard — 00:10
Very strong and very close explosion.
The house shook heavily.
The first explosion was extremely strong; the next two were farther but still shook the windows.
I’m near Shahid Araghi Street.
They keep hitting continuously.
The whole house is shaking.
00:30 — again the sound of aircraft.
A strong explosion near Seyed Khandan.
Mehrshahr, Municipality Boulevard — 00:10
Very strong and very close explosion.
The house shook heavily.
The first explosion was extremely strong; the next two were farther away but still shook the windows.
On X: https://x.com/Vahid and on telegram: https://t.me/VahidOnline#
As with everything AI, there might be placement mistakes or places left off. The map is meant to provide a visual sense of the extensive attacks.
The unusual colours following explosions likely indicate that transformers or other electric power facilities have been struck, as the explosions cause ionization of nitrogen in the air which appears blue, while vapourized copper is green. Confirming that, like Russia in Ukraine, the US and Israel are going after power supply.
It's horrific what is being done to the people of Iran. Absolutely horrific. And this latest escalation - doubling down on the crimes - is even more horrific as it is being done to try and quell the rebellion going on in the financial markets, instead of stopping the attacks and admitting that it was a massive miscalulation and a war crime.