Space-Based Imagery Depict Iranian Navy and Atomic Sites Damaged by Joint US and Israeli Military Action.
A wave of joint attacks has allegedly sunk or crippled at least eleven warships belonging to Iran since Saturday, new aerial photos demonstrate, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal smoke billowing from multiple vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Forces Sustained Substantial Damage
Included in the vessels destroyed was the Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery indicated dark plumes rising from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical assessments state that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while additional ships appear to be impacted, with one of them visibly ablaze.
Over at Konarak, photos display numerous harmed vessels, with expert review pointing to impacts on a half-dozen warships. Images taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple buildings at the base have been demolished.
"For decades the Tehran government has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is no Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
Some ships reportedly sunk may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was sinking off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Rocket Installations and Nuclear Locations Attacked
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping atomic bomb programs were listed as other objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southerly Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was seen to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also noted at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Of particular note, the new round of strikes have reportedly hit facilities at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the heart of the country's atomic program. An international watchdog commented that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Military analysts stated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct standard operations using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was stressed that Iran retains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The full scope of the destruction caused to Iran's defense facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with attacks said to be ongoing. Photos also indicates considerable damage to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also are reported to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the hostilities escalated. Casualty figures from ground sources indicate that many hundreds of civilians may have been killed in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of aerial photographs will continue to document the changing scope of damage.