Satellite Pictures Indicate Iran's Navy and Nuclear Facilities Hit by US-Israeli Attacks.
A wave of American and Israeli attacks has allegedly destroyed or damaged a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships starting Saturday, new orbital imagery show, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and is home to the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, show black smoke pouring from multiple vessels on the start of the week.
Naval Forces Incurred Major Damage
Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed dark plumes rising from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Analytical evaluations indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Photos of the southern end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels appear to be damaged, with one of them clearly on fire.
Over at the Konarak base, images show numerous damaged ships, with analysis identifying impacts on a half-dozen warships. Photos taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple facilities at the base have been demolished.
"For a long time the Iran's leadership has harassed commercial vessels," the head of US Central Command stated. "At present, there is not a single Iranian vessel underway in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by cloud or smoke, or struck at sea, and have not been conclusively proven. Additional information stated that an Iranian vessel was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Rocket Installations and Nuclear Facilities Attacked
The destruction of Iran's rocket sites and the stopping nuclear weapons development were stated as additional objectives of the offensive. Aerial imagery also revealed damage at the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.
At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site west of Kermanshah, extensive damage was identified to warehouses, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also seen at a radar site at the Zahedan military airport in eastern parts of the country, near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the latest wave of attacks have apparently focused on installations at Natanz – widely believed to be at the center of the country's enrichment efforts. An international watchdog stated that the affected structures were used for entry to the site's below-ground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the strikes appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to conduct traditional warfare using its most significant vessels. Nevertheless, it was noted that Tehran still has the option to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of tankers.
The total scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with strikes reportedly persisting. Imagery also indicates widespread damage to the main offices of the the IRGC in the capital Tehran.
A large number of non-military structures also appear to have been hit in the capital city and throughout the country since the hostilities began. Reports of deaths from ground sources indicate that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
As the situation develops, analysis of satellite imagery will persist to document the evolving battlefield picture.