Orbital Images Show Iran's Navy and Atomic Sites Struck by American and Israeli Military Action.
A wave of US and Israeli attacks has reportedly sunk or crippled no fewer than eleven warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, new orbital imagery demonstrate, with missile bases and atomic facilities also coming under fire.
Pictures of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which sits on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, depict plumes of smoke rising from several warships on recent days.
Naval Fleet Sustained Major Losses
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, the country's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Orbital photos displayed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been stationed at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence reports indicate that at least five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "struck or destroyed". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor show smoke rising from the Makran, while two other ships are visibly harmed, with one of them visibly ablaze.
At Konarak, images display multiple stricken vessels, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to a half-dozen warships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also indicate that several facilities at the base have been leveled.
"For many years the Iranian regime has disrupted commercial vessels," an American commander stated. "Today, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some ships allegedly sunk may have been concealed in satellite images by haze or plumes, or struck at sea, and have not been independently verified. Additional information indicated that a ship from Iran was sinking near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a rescue operation.
Missile Bases and Atomic Locations Hit
Neutralizing Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of nuclear weapons development were declared as other objectives of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted strikes on the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and fortifications were struck.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to warehouses, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have reportedly targeted sites at Natanz – considered at the core of the country's enrichment efforts. A global monitoring agency said that the damaged buildings were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.
Wider Impact and Analysis
Observers stated that the offensive appeared to have "greatly reduced" the Iranian navy's capacity to sustain conventional attacks using its most significant warships. But, it was noted that Iran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, midget subs and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The full extent of the damage caused to Iranian military infrastructure remains unclear, with attacks reportedly continuing. Photos also indicates 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 struck in the capital and across Iran after the fighting began. Reports of deaths from inside Iran state that hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of satellite imagery will carry on to document the unfolding military landscape.