Satellite Images Indicate Iranian Naval Forces and Nuclear Locations Targeted by US-Israeli Attacks.
Multiple American and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly sunk or crippled a minimum of 11 warships belonging to Iran starting the weekend, new aerial photos show, with missile bases and atomic facilities also being targeted.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal plumes of smoke rising from several vessels on recent days.
Maritime Forces Sustained Significant Damage
Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated black smoke emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical evaluations suggest that no fewer than five ships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern part of the port reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels seem to be damaged, with a single one visibly ablaze.
At Konarak, photos reveal multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to six vessels. Photos from Monday also show that several facilities at the installation have been leveled.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened international shipping," a senior US military official said. "Today, there is no vessel from Iran operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."
Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts suggested that one Iranian ship was foundering off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Targeted
Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as additional objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Significantly, the most recent series of strikes have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of Iran's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body stated that the affected buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.
Wider Fallout and Assessment
Military analysts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's ability to sustain traditional warfare using its biggest warships. But, it was emphasised that Iran still has the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities is still uncertain, with strikes reportedly continuing. Pictures also reveals extensive destruction to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
A large number of civilian buildings also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout Iran after the conflict began. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will continue to track the evolving battlefield picture.