Satellite Photographs Show Iranian Navy and Atomic Facilities Hit by US-Israeli Attacks.
Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than eleven Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos reveal, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from several warships on the start of the week.
Maritime Fleet Incurred Substantial Damage
Among the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical assessments suggest that no fewer than five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the south end of the harbor show smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly harmed, with one of them seen burning.
Over at the Konarak base, photos reveal several stricken ships, with expert review identifying damage to six ships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the installation have been leveled.
"For decades the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports suggested that one Iranian ship was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Bases and Nuclear Facilities Hit
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were listed as additional goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.
At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was observed to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Destruction was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of strikes have reportedly focused on installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the heart of the country's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the damaged structures were used for access to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Broader Impact and Analysis
Military analysts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct standard operations using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Iran still has the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks said to be continuing. Photos also shows widespread destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A large number of non-military structures also seem to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the conflict started. Casualty figures from inside Iran suggest that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of space-based data will persist to assess the unfolding scope of damage.