Space-Based Pictures Show Iran's Naval Forces and Nuclear Facilities Damaged by US-Israeli Military Action.
A wave of joint strikes has allegedly destroyed or damaged at least eleven Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new satellite images demonstrate, with rocket sites and nuclear sites also coming under fire.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from several ships on recent days.
Maritime Fleet Sustained Significant Damage
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's most sizable ship which had been used as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical reports indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern end of the port show smoke emanating from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels are visibly impacted, with one of them visibly ablaze.
At the Konarak base, images display multiple damaged ships, with expert review identifying impacts on six vessels. Photos taken on Monday also show that multiple structures at the base have been destroyed.
"For many years the Tehran government has harassed commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command said. "Today, there is no vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, prompting a rescue operation.
Rocket Installations and Atomic Facilities Hit
The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the stopping enrichment activities were listed as other objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu base and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where rocket warehouses and bunkers were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, significant destruction was identified to warehouses, underground facilities and unmanned aircraft systems.
Destruction was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern parts of the country, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of strikes have apparently focused on facilities at Natanz – considered at the core of Iran's atomic program. An international watchdog said that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.
Wider Fallout and Assessment
Observers suggested that the strikes appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's ability to conduct standard operations using its biggest vessels. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran retains the capacity to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The total scope of the damage caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also appear to have been hit in the capital city and across Iran after the hostilities started. Toll estimates from ground sources indicate that a high number of non-combatants may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
Amid continuing hostilities, analysis of aerial photographs will carry on to track the unfolding scope of damage.