Satellite Pictures Show Iran's Naval Forces and Atomic Facilities Hit by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.
A wave of American and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of eleven Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new satellite images demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from multiple vessels on the start of the week.
Naval Forces Sustained Significant Losses
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 dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical evaluations state that at least five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern part of the port depict smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels are visibly harmed, with one of them clearly on fire.
Over at Konarak, photos reveal several damaged ships, with expert review identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on Monday also show that several structures at the installation have been demolished.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened global maritime traffic," an American commander stated. "At present, there is no Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information indicated that an Iranian vessel was sinking near Sri Lankan waters, prompting a rescue operation.
Rocket Bases and Nuclear Locations Hit
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as additional goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also seen 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 apparently focused on sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the damaged buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capability to sustain standard operations using its biggest warships. However, it was emphasised that Iran retains the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with attacks said to be persisting. Photos also shows widespread damage to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of public facilities also appear to have been hit in the capital and across Iran since the fighting began. Casualty figures from ground sources suggest that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the strikes.
As the situation develops, analysis of satellite imagery will carry on to assess the evolving scope of damage.