Space-Based Photographs Indicate Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Facilities Hit by US-Israeli Airstrikes.
A wave of joint airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iran's navy ships since Saturday, new orbital imagery show, with rocket sites and atomic facilities also coming under fire.
Images of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from a number of vessels on recent days.
Naval Assets Sustained Major Losses
Among the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a drone carrier. Orbital photos indicated dark plumes pouring from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations state that at least five ships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor reveal plumes ascending from the Makran, while another pair of ships are visibly damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.
At the Konarak base, images reveal multiple stricken vessels, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to six vessels. Photos taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that several buildings at the installation have been destroyed.
"For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," an American commander stated. "Now, there is not a single vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Separate reports stated that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked
Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were listed as other goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also depicted damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were targeted.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the new round of strikes have reportedly focused on sites at Natanz – considered at the center of the country's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capability to sustain conventional attacks using its largest warships. However, it was noted that Iran still has the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.
The full scale of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Photos also reveals extensive destruction to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
A large number of non-military structures also seem to have been damaged in the capital and across Iran after the conflict escalated. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the strikes.
As the situation develops, review of satellite imagery will continue to document the changing military landscape.