Airstrikes targeting Revolutionary Guard command centers in Alborz province sent shrapnel into high-voltage towers, severing power to millions across Tehran and Karaj as conflict escalates.

A wave of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes aimed at military command centers plunged the Iranian capital and neighboring Alborz province into a near-total blackout Sunday night.

The strikes, which the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed targeted “terror regime targets,” caused secondary damage to critical civilian infrastructure. Shrapnel from the explosions at military-linked sites in Alborz struck a high-voltage transmission tower, according to reports from the semi-official Nournews and the Iranian Ministry of Energy.

The resulting failure triggered a cascading outage across five major districts of Tehran. Residents in eastern neighborhoods including Masoudieh and Nobonyad, as well as western districts like Tehransar, reported total loss of power immediately following the sound of heavy explosions.

It’s the most significant disruption to the capital’s life since the current armed conflict intensified earlier this year.

“The power outage in parts of Tehran and Alborz was due to the bombs’ shrapnel that damaged electricity facilities,” the Fars news agency reported. Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister, Mustafa Rajabi Mashhadi, told the Tasnim News Agency that technicians have been deployed to install several new power transmission stations. He claimed service would be restored within hours.

But for the 9 million people in Tehran, the darkness isn’t just a matter of flickering lights.

The electricity failure compounds a 30-day nationwide internet blackout that has already crippled the nation’s economy. Since January 8, the Iranian government has maintained a “kill switch” on global connectivity to suppress internal dissent and protests. With the power now out, even the state-controlled domestic intranet has vanished in the affected districts.

Earlier Sunday, the IDF announced it had successfully struck mobile command centers and weapons production facilities. The military claimed Iranian authorities had shifted operations into these mobile units after permanent command centers were leveled in previous weeks.

Loud blasts were heard near the Masoudieh military base and the Daghayeghi township, a residential area known for housing senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Witnesses in the Heravi area of northeastern Tehran reported three heavy explosions that shook apartment buildings.

“We saw the sky turn orange, then the hum of the city just stopped,” said one resident via a satellite messaging service.

The IRGC has responded with a 12-hour ultimatum to Washington. In a statement released Sunday, the Guards warned they would target “American and Israeli universities” in the region if the United States did not officially condemn the bombing of the Tehran University of Science and Technology.

The threat follows a March 23 warning from the Guards that they would retaliate against Western-linked energy infrastructure if Iran’s grid was targeted.

What does this mean for the civilian population?

Human Rights Watch warned earlier this month that the combination of kinetic strikes and communication blackouts creates a “deadly vacuum.” Without power, hospitals operating on aging generators are struggling to maintain cold chains for medicine. Emergency services cannot be reached by residents in the dark.

The economic toll is already measured in trillions. The Tehran Stock Exchange has lost 450,000 points in recent weeks. Online commerce, which constitutes a vital part of the urban economy, has plummeted by 80% since the internet was first severed.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released satellite imagery earlier this week showing “devastating” damage to the Qom Turbine Engine Production Plant, a facility that produces parts for attack drones. The latest strikes on the Tehran power corridor suggest the coalition is moving from surgical military targets to infrastructure that sustains the regime’s control over the capital.

The lights may come back on tonight, but the stability of the grid remains tied to a conflict that shows no signs of cooling.