Satellite Pictures Reveal Iran's Navy and Nuclear Sites Hit by US-Israeli Attacks.
A wave of joint airstrikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed at least 11 Iran's navy ships since Saturday, recently obtained satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from multiple ships on recent days.
Maritime Fleet Sustained Major Damage
Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes pouring from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence reports suggest that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the south end of the port depict smoke rising from the Makran, while additional ships are visibly impacted, with one of them clearly on fire.
At the Konarak base, images reveal several stricken ships, with analysis identifying strikes against six ships. Photos taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that several facilities at the installation have been demolished.
"For decades the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports indicated that an Iranian vessel was foundering off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Sites and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the prevention of enrichment activities were declared as additional aims of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to storage buildings, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.
Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have reportedly targeted installations at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. A global monitoring agency stated that the damaged buildings were used for access to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.
Broader Consequences and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain conventional attacks using its most significant warships. But, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The full scope of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes reportedly ongoing. Imagery also shows extensive destruction to the headquarters of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also appear to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran since the fighting began. Toll estimates from inside Iran suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
With the conflict ongoing, monitoring of aerial photographs will persist to document the evolving military landscape.