Satellite Pictures Depict Iran's Naval Forces and Atomic Locations Struck by American and Israeli Strikes.
A series of US and Israeli airstrikes has reportedly destroyed or damaged no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, freshly analyzed aerial photos show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.
Images of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from multiple warships on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Assets Incurred Significant Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images indicated black smoke rising from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence assessments suggest that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Pictures of the southern end of the port reveal smoke emanating from the Makran, while additional ships appear to be damaged, with a single one clearly on fire.
At Konarak, images display several harmed vessels, with analysis identifying impacts on six vessels. Images from Monday also show that a number of structures at the installation have been destroyed.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened international shipping," an American commander said. "Today, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some vessels allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts indicated that a ship from Iran was foundering off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Hit
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as other objectives of the offensive. Satellite images also showed damage at the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to warehouses, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also noted at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the latest wave of strikes have apparently targeted facilities at Natanz – considered at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. A global monitoring agency stated that the damaged structures were used for access to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Military analysts stated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct traditional warfare using its most significant warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran retains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.
The full scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with attacks reportedly continuing. Imagery also reveals extensive destruction to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also appear to have been struck in the capital and across Iran after the fighting started. Casualty figures from ground sources state that hundreds of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the strikes.
As the situation develops, review of aerial photographs will carry on to assess the changing military landscape.