Satellite Pictures Reveal Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Sites Struck by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.
A wave of American and Israeli attacks has allegedly eliminated or harmed at least 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, freshly analyzed orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Images of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, show plumes of smoke rising from several vessels on recent days.
Naval Forces Sustained Significant Losses
Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence assessments suggest that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern end of the port show plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of vessels are visibly damaged, with one of them seen burning.
Over at the Konarak base, images display multiple damaged ships, with expert review identifying impacts on six vessels. Pictures taken on Monday also demonstrate that a number of structures at the installation have been demolished.
"For decades the Iranian regime has harassed global maritime traffic," a senior US military official stated. "At present, there is no Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Bases and Nuclear Locations Hit
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were declared as other objectives of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was seen to storage buildings, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the most recent series of strikes have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of the country's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency stated that the affected structures were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval ability to sustain traditional warfare using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.
The overall extent of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities is still uncertain, with strikes said to be continuing. Photos also reveals widespread damage to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout the country after the conflict started. Toll estimates from ground sources state that hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of aerial photographs will carry on to document the changing battlefield picture.