Satellite Pictures Indicate Iranian Navy and Atomic Locations Targeted by Joint US and Israeli Strikes.
A wave of US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new satellite images show, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Images of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, depict black smoke pouring from multiple vessels on the start of the week.
Maritime Assets Sustained Significant Losses
Among the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images showed thick smoke pouring from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the south end of the harbor show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships appear to be impacted, with one clearly on fire.
Over at the Konarak base, photos show numerous damaged ships, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to six vessels. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of buildings at the base have been demolished.
"For decades the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," an American commander said. "Today, there is no Iranian ship underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of ships reportedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Additional information indicated that an Iranian vessel was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Atomic Locations Attacked
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were stated as additional goals of the offensive. Satellite images also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were hit.
At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was seen to sheds, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Of particular note, the new round of attacks have apparently hit installations at the Natanz complex – considered at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog commented that the affected buildings were used for access to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Military analysts stated that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capability to sustain conventional attacks using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly continuing. Pictures also reveals extensive damage to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also seem to have been struck in the capital city and across the country after the hostilities started. Toll estimates from ground sources indicate that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will continue to document the unfolding scope of damage.