Satellite Imagery Show Iranian Naval Forces and Atomic Locations Damaged by Joint US and Israeli Airstrikes.
A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, freshly analyzed satellite images show, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also being targeted.
Images of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, show smoke billowing from several vessels on the start of the week.
Naval Assets Incurred Significant Damage
Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated black smoke emanating from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the south end of the harbor show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships are visibly harmed, with a single one clearly on fire.
Over at Konarak, photos reveal numerous harmed ships, with analysis identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures from Monday also demonstrate that a number of buildings at the base have been destroyed.
"For a long time the Iran's leadership has disrupted global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information suggested that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Missile Installations and Nuclear Locations Targeted
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as additional objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also showed impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Destruction was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have reportedly hit installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capability to carry out conventional attacks using its biggest vessels. But, it was noted that Iran still has the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scope of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be persisting. Pictures also shows considerable damage to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of non-military structures also appear to have been hit in the capital and throughout Iran after the conflict started. Casualty figures from local officials indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of aerial photographs will persist to document the unfolding scope of damage.