Satellite Imagery Show Iranian Navy and Atomic Locations Damaged by US-Israeli Military Action.
Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, new orbital imagery demonstrate, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Images of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from multiple ships on the start of the week.
Naval Fleet Sustained Significant Losses
Among the vessels destroyed was the Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated dark plumes pouring from the vessel which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence assessments suggest that no fewer than five ships at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the south end of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels are visibly harmed, with a single one visibly ablaze.
Over at the Konarak base, photos display multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on Monday also show that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed.
"For decades the Iranian regime has harassed commercial vessels," an American commander declared. "Now, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports indicated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as other aims of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were hit.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone drone base to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Significantly, the new round of attacks have reportedly hit sites at Natanz – long said to be at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Military analysts stated that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capacity to carry out conventional attacks using its most significant warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.
The overall extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Imagery also shows widespread destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A large number of public facilities also appear to have been hit in the capital and throughout Iran after the fighting began. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the bombardment.
With the conflict ongoing, analysis of satellite imagery will continue to assess the changing scope of damage.