Space-Based Photographs Show Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Damaged by US-Israeli Military Action.
Multiple US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, new satellite images show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from multiple ships on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Forces Incurred Major Damage
Among the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images displayed thick smoke pouring from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence reports indicate that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the south end of the port depict plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly harmed, with a single one seen burning.
Over at Konarak, images show multiple harmed vessels, with analysis pointing to strikes against six vessels. Photos from the start of the week also show that several facilities at the installation have been demolished.
"For many years the Iranian regime has harassed global maritime traffic," an American commander said. "At present, there is no Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some ships allegedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts indicated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Bases and Nuclear Locations Targeted
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were stated as other objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Destruction was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly focused on installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the heart of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain standard operations using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran retains the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be persisting. Imagery also reveals widespread destruction to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also appear to have been struck in the capital city and across the country since the hostilities escalated. Toll estimates from inside Iran suggest that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of satellite imagery will persist to assess the unfolding military landscape.