Orbital Images Reveal Iranian Navy and Nuclear Locations Targeted by US-Israeli Airstrikes.
A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has allegedly sunk or crippled at least 11 Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, recently obtained satellite images reveal, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from multiple vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Forces Incurred Substantial Damage
Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Orbital photos showed black smoke rising from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical evaluations state that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the south end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of vessels seem to be impacted, with a single one clearly on fire.
At Konarak, photos show multiple harmed ships, with expert review pointing to impacts on six ships. Photos from Monday also show that a number of structures at the installation have been destroyed.
"For decades the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," a senior US military official declared. "At present, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Rocket Bases and Atomic Facilities Targeted
The destruction of Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as other goals of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Impact was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase in eastern parts of the country, close to the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the new round of attacks have apparently focused on facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the damaged buildings were used for access to the site's underground enrichment facility and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Observers suggested that the attacks appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct standard operations using its largest warships. But, it was noted that Tehran maintains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.
The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities remains unclear, with hostilities said to be persisting. Imagery also reveals extensive destruction to the command center of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
A significant number of non-military structures also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout Iran since the fighting started. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will carry on to track the changing battlefield picture.