Satellite Pictures Show Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Sites Struck by US-Israeli Attacks.
A series of joint airstrikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iranian naval vessels since the weekend, freshly analyzed satellite images reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Maritime Assets Incurred Major Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, the country's biggest warship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed dark plumes pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the south end of the harbor show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be harmed, with a single one seen burning.
Over at Konarak, photos display numerous harmed ships, with analysis pointing to damage to a half-dozen warships. Photos from the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the base have been destroyed.
"For many years the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," an American commander said. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some vessels allegedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information stated that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lankan waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Bases and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as other aims of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated.
Wider Consequences and Analysis
Observers stated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain conventional attacks using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Tehran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Photos also reveals extensive destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of public facilities also are reported to have been hit in the capital and throughout the country since the hostilities began. Toll estimates from local officials state that hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will persist to track the changing scope of damage.