Orbital Photographs Indicate Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Hit by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.
Multiple joint strikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged at least 11 warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, recently obtained aerial photos show, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Images of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from a number of ships on the start of the week.
Maritime Assets Incurred Major Damage
Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images showed black smoke pouring from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical assessments indicate that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the south end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships seem to be impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.
At Konarak, photos show numerous stricken vessels, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six vessels. Pictures taken on Monday also indicate that a number of facilities at the installation have been demolished.
"For decades the Iran's leadership has harassed international shipping," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is not one Iranian ship operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."
A number of vessels allegedly destroyed may have been concealed in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Additional information stated that one Iranian ship was foundering near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Targeted
Neutralizing Iranian missile bases and the stopping nuclear weapons development were declared as further objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was seen to storage buildings, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Significantly, the new round of attacks have reportedly focused on sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was expected.
Broader Fallout and Assessment
Defense experts stated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's ability to carry out conventional attacks using its biggest warships. However, it was emphasised that Iran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly persisting. Imagery also shows extensive destruction to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A large number of civilian buildings also seem to have been hit in the capital city and throughout the country since the fighting started. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to assess the unfolding military landscape.