Satellite Photographs Depict Iranian Navy and Atomic Sites Damaged by US-Israeli Attacks.
Multiple US and Israeli strikes has according to analysis destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 Iranian naval vessels starting Saturday, recently obtained satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from multiple ships on recent days.
Naval Assets Incurred Major Damage
Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Satellite images displayed dark plumes pouring from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical reports indicate that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Photos of the southern end of the harbor show smoke rising from the Makran, while additional vessels appear to be harmed, with a single one seen burning.
At Konarak, photos display numerous damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying impacts on six vessels. Pictures taken on the start of the week also demonstrate that a number of structures at the base have been leveled.
"For a long time the Iran's leadership has threatened global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command stated. "Now, there is no Iranian ship operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that one Iranian ship was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Locations Attacked
Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the stopping enrichment activities were declared as further objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air air base, where weapons bunkers and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was seen to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also observed at a surveillance station at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Significantly, the latest wave of attacks have apparently hit facilities at Natanz – long said to be at the center of Iran's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency commented that the damaged structures were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was anticipated.
Broader Fallout and Assessment
Defense experts stated that the attacks appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain traditional warfare using its most significant warships. However, it was noted that Iran still has the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The total scope of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates considerable destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
A large number of public facilities also are reported to have been damaged in the capital and across the country after the fighting escalated. Reports of deaths from local officials suggest that hundreds of non-combatants may have been fatally injured in the attacks.
As the situation develops, monitoring of aerial photographs will continue to track the unfolding scope of damage.