Satellite Photographs Show Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Targeted by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.
Multiple joint attacks has reportedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, freshly analyzed satellite images show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas installation, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the main command of the Iranian navy, show plumes of smoke rising from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Assets Sustained Significant Losses
Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed thick smoke pouring from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence reports suggest that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern part of the harbor reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while two other ships seem to be impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.
At Konarak, photos show multiple stricken vessels, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six vessels. Images taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the installation have been demolished.
"For many years the Tehran government has disrupted international shipping," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is not a single vessel from Iran at sea in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Attacked
Eliminating Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were stated as additional objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base west of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the new round of attacks have reportedly targeted installations at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency said that the affected structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.
Broader Impact and Analysis
Observers indicated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct standard operations using its most significant warships. But, it was noted that Iran still has the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The overall scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with attacks reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates widespread destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards 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 conflict started. Reports of deaths from inside Iran indicate that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of space-based data will persist to assess the unfolding scope of damage.