Space-Based Pictures Reveal Iran's Naval Forces and Atomic Locations Hit by US-Israeli Military Action.
A series of American and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis sunk or crippled at least eleven Iranian naval vessels starting the weekend, new orbital imagery show, with missile bases and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which sits on the Strait of Hormuz and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, show smoke billowing from a number of ships on the start of the week.
Naval Forces Sustained Major Damage
Included in the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had been used as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery indicated black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Analytical assessments suggest that no fewer than five ships at the port were "hit or sunk". Photos of the southern part of the port depict smoke emanating from the Makran, while additional ships seem to be harmed, with one of them seen burning.
At Konarak, photos display numerous harmed vessels, with intelligence reports identifying strikes against six vessels. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that a number of facilities at the base have been leveled.
"For many years the Iran's leadership has threatened commercial vessels," an American commander stated. "At present, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of vessels allegedly sunk may have been obscured in satellite images by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lanka's waters, prompting a search and rescue mission.
Missile Sites and Nuclear Locations Targeted
The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were declared as other objectives of the air campaign. Satellite images also revealed damage at the southerly Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.
At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, widespread destruction was identified to sheds, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern Iran, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the latest wave of attacks have reportedly focused on sites at the Natanz complex – long said to be at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog said that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was likely.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Military analysts suggested that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capacity to carry out traditional warfare using its largest warships. However, it was stressed that Tehran retains the ability to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The overall extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks said to be continuing. Photos also reveals extensive damage to the command center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the capital Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also appear to have been struck in the capital and throughout the country since the fighting began. Casualty figures from inside Iran indicate that hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
As the situation develops, monitoring of space-based data will continue to track the evolving military landscape.