Satellite Photographs Depict Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Sites Hit by Joint US and Israeli Military Action.
A series of joint attacks has according to analysis destroyed or damaged at least 11 warships belonging to Iran starting Saturday, new satellite images reveal, with launch facilities and nuclear sites also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from multiple vessels on the start of the week.
Maritime Assets Sustained Major Losses
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a drone carrier. Satellite images indicated thick smoke rising from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations indicate that no fewer than five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the harbor reveal smoke rising from the Makran, while additional ships appear to be damaged, with a single one visibly ablaze.
At Konarak, photos reveal multiple damaged ships, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Pictures from the start of the week also show that multiple structures at the base have been destroyed.
"For decades the Iranian regime has disrupted commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been hidden in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Additional information indicated that an Iranian vessel was sinking off the coast of Sri Lankan waters, prompting a rescue operation.
Missile Installations and Nuclear Facilities Attacked
Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as additional aims 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 air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility to the west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive destruction was observed to warehouses, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction 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 reportedly focused on installations at Natanz – considered at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no radiological consequence" was likely.
Wider Fallout and Assessment
Military analysts suggested that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's ability to carry out traditional warfare using its biggest warships. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran retains the capacity to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities reportedly persisting. Imagery also reveals extensive damage to the command center of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also are reported to have been hit in the capital and across the country since the fighting escalated. Reports of deaths from inside Iran state that a high number of civilians may have been lost their lives in the strikes.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to track the evolving military landscape.