Satellite Photographs Depict Iran's Naval Forces and Atomic Facilities Targeted by US-Israeli Strikes.
Multiple US and Israeli attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of eleven warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, recently obtained aerial photos demonstrate, with missile bases and enrichment plants also being targeted.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, show smoke billowing from multiple vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Maritime Forces Incurred Significant Losses
Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had served as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated black smoke rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical assessments state that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the south end of the port reveal smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels are visibly impacted, with one of them visibly ablaze.
At the Konarak base, photos reveal several stricken vessels, with expert review identifying strikes against six vessels. Images from Monday also demonstrate that multiple structures at the base have been leveled.
"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Missile Sites and Nuclear Facilities Targeted
Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as further goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also depicted strikes on the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were targeted.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the border with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the new round of attacks have reportedly targeted installations at Natanz – long said to be at the core of the country's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to conduct conventional attacks using its largest warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran retains the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with attacks said to be continuing. Imagery also indicates considerable damage to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout the country after the hostilities started. Toll estimates from inside Iran indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the attacks.
As the situation develops, monitoring of satellite imagery will persist to track the changing battlefield picture.