Orbital Photographs Reveal Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Hit by Joint US and Israeli Military Action.
A wave of American and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new satellite images show, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from a number of ships on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Fleet Incurred Major Damage
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images indicated black smoke rising from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical assessments suggest that no fewer than five ships at the port were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels appear to be damaged, with one of them visibly ablaze.
At Konarak, photos show multiple harmed vessels, with intelligence reports pointing to strikes against six vessels. Images taken on Monday also demonstrate that multiple structures at the base have been demolished.
"For many years the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some vessels allegedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Additional information suggested that an Iranian vessel was going down near Sri Lankan waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Installations and Nuclear Facilities Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as further aims of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to sheds, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.
Impact was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Of particular note, the new round of strikes have apparently hit facilities at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog commented that the damaged structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Wider Fallout and Analysis
Military analysts stated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain standard operations using its largest vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Iran still has the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The overall extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also seem to have been damaged in the capital and across the country since the fighting began. Reports of deaths from inside Iran state that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will persist to assess the unfolding battlefield picture.