Orbital Photographs Show Iranian Navy and Atomic Facilities Targeted by American and Israeli Attacks.
A wave of US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos show, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also coming under fire.
Images of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from multiple vessels on recent days.
Naval Forces Sustained Significant Losses
Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed thick smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations suggest that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the south end of the port reveal smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels are visibly damaged, with one visibly ablaze.
At the Konarak base, images reveal numerous stricken vessels, with expert review pointing to damage to a half-dozen warships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that several buildings at the installation have been demolished.
"For decades the Iranian regime has disrupted commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports stated that one Iranian ship was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as additional objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was seen to warehouses, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the most recent series of attacks have reportedly focused on sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.
Broader Fallout and Analysis
Military analysts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval ability to sustain standard operations using its most significant vessels. However, it was noted that Tehran retains the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities is still uncertain, with strikes said to be continuing. Photos also indicates widespread destruction to the main offices of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A large number of civilian buildings also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran since the conflict started. Toll estimates from inside Iran suggest that a high number of non-combatants may have been killed in the strikes.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of space-based data will carry on to document the evolving military landscape.