Orbital Imagery Depict Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Facilities Targeted by American and Israeli Airstrikes.
Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels since Saturday, new satellite images reveal, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from a number of vessels on recent days.
Naval Forces Incurred Major Damage
Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke rising from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical reports suggest that at least a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the southern end of the harbor depict smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of ships seem to be impacted, with a single one seen burning.
Over at Konarak, images display numerous harmed vessels, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six ships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that several facilities at the base have been destroyed.
"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command said. "Now, there is no Iranian ship underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information stated that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Missile Bases and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as additional objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed strikes on the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.
Impact was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the most recent series of attacks have apparently hit installations at Natanz – long said to be at the heart of Iran's atomic program. An international watchdog commented that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capacity to conduct conventional attacks using its largest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The total scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Photos also reveals extensive destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also seem to have been struck in the capital and throughout Iran after the fighting started. Toll estimates from local officials indicate that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
With the conflict ongoing, analysis of aerial photographs will persist to document the unfolding battlefield picture.