Satellite Photographs Indicate Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Sites Damaged by US-Israeli Strikes.
Multiple American and Israeli attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled at least eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new satellite images show, with missile bases and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Images of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of ships on the start of the week.
Naval Assets Incurred Major Losses
Among the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery showed dark plumes emanating from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence evaluations indicate that at least five ships at the port were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the south end of the port depict smoke emanating from the Makran, while another pair of ships appear to be harmed, with a single one seen burning.
Over at Konarak, photos reveal multiple stricken ships, with intelligence reports pointing to impacts on six ships. Pictures from the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the base have been leveled.
"For many years the Iran's leadership has harassed global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command declared. "Today, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Missile Bases and Nuclear Locations Targeted
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were stated as additional goals of the air campaign. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was seen to storage buildings, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, close to the border with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have apparently targeted sites at Natanz – long said to be at the heart of the country's nuclear programme. An international watchdog commented that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.
Broader Consequences and Analysis
Military analysts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct standard operations using its largest vessels. But, it was emphasised that Tehran still has the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The total scale of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks reportedly continuing. Photos also shows extensive damage to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital city and across the country since the fighting escalated. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.
With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to assess the evolving battlefield picture.