Space-Based Pictures Show Iran's Navy and Atomic Facilities Hit by Joint US and Israeli Strikes.
Multiple US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new satellite images show, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show black smoke pouring from several ships on recent days.
Maritime Fleet Incurred Significant Losses
Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical assessments indicate that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern part of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the Makran, while additional vessels are visibly damaged, with one of them clearly on fire.
At Konarak, photos show numerous stricken vessels, with expert review identifying impacts on six ships. Photos taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that a number of buildings at the base have been demolished.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened global maritime traffic," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been concealed in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Targeted
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping nuclear weapons development were listed as additional aims of the military strikes. Satellite images also showed strikes on the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to warehouses, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have reportedly focused on installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the center of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog said that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Broader Impact and Assessment
Observers stated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to carry out standard operations using its biggest vessels. However, it was noted that Tehran maintains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The full extent of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities reportedly persisting. Imagery also shows extensive damage to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also seem to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the conflict started. Casualty figures from ground sources indicate that many hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of space-based data will persist to document the unfolding scope of damage.