Aerial Imagery Show Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Struck by Joint US and Israeli Attacks.
Multiple American and Israeli strikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled at least eleven Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, recently obtained satellite images show, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and contains the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from several warships on recent days.
Naval Fleet Sustained Substantial Losses
Included in the targets eliminated was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed thick smoke emanating from the vessel which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence reports state that at least a quintet of warships at the port were "hit or sunk". Pictures of the southern end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels appear to be harmed, with one of them clearly on fire.
Over at the Konarak base, images reveal several stricken vessels, with analysis pointing to damage to six ships. Photos from Monday also demonstrate that multiple facilities at the installation have been leveled.
"For decades the Iran's leadership has threatened international shipping," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is not one Iranian ship operational in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will continue."
A number of ships allegedly destroyed may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts stated that an Iranian vessel was foundering near Sri Lankan waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were stated as further goals of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also revealed strikes on the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.
Damage was also observed at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the frontier with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have apparently targeted sites at Natanz – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.
Wider Fallout and Analysis
Military analysts stated that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct standard operations using its largest warships. But, it was emphasised that Iran maintains the option to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The overall scope of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Pictures also reveals extensive damage to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
A large number of non-military structures also appear to have been hit in the capital city and across the country since the fighting began. Toll estimates from local officials suggest that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the bombardment.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will continue to document the changing scope of damage.