Aerial Pictures Depict Iranian Navy and Nuclear Facilities Damaged by Joint US and Israeli Attacks.
A wave of US and Israeli attacks has according to analysis sunk or crippled no fewer than 11 Iran's navy ships since Saturday, recently obtained orbital imagery reveal, with missile bases and nuclear sites also being targeted.
Photographs of the southern Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the headquarters of the Iran's naval force, depict plumes of smoke rising from several vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Maritime Fleet Sustained Major Damage
Among the vessels destroyed was the IRINS Makran, Iran's biggest warship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Aerial imagery displayed black smoke emanating from the vessel which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.
Intelligence evaluations indicate that no fewer than a quintet of warships at Bandar Abbas were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the southern end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships are visibly damaged, with one of them seen burning.
Over at the Konarak base, images show several harmed ships, with expert review pointing to strikes against six ships. Images taken on the start of the week also indicate that multiple structures at the base have been destroyed.
"For a long time the Tehran government has disrupted global maritime traffic," a senior US military official said. "Now, there is not one Iranian ship underway in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will persist."
A number of vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or targeted offshore, and have not been independently verified. Additional information stated that an Iranian vessel was going down off the coast of Sri Lanka's waters, resulting in a rescue operation.
Rocket Sites and Nuclear Facilities Targeted
The destruction of Tehran's launch facilities and the prevention of atomic bomb programs were listed as other goals of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also depicted damage at the southern Khorgu and north-western Tabriz facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were struck.
At the Choqa Balk-e unmanned aircraft site to the west of the city of Kermanshah, widespread damage was observed to storage buildings, underground facilities and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of strikes have reportedly targeted facilities at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the core of Iran's nuclear programme. An international watchdog stated that the affected buildings were used for entry to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no release of radioactive material" was expected.
Wider Fallout and Analysis
Defense experts stated that the attacks appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct standard operations using its biggest warships. However, it was stressed that Iran still has the capacity to launch unconventional attacks at sea through the use of drones, small submarines and its so-called "ghost fleet" of oil ships.
The overall scale of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure remains unclear, with hostilities said to be continuing. Imagery also indicates widespread destruction to the main offices of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the capital Tehran.
A large number of non-military structures also seem to have been hit in the capital and throughout Iran since the conflict began. Reports of deaths from ground sources indicate that a high number of civilians may have been fatally injured in the strikes.
Amid continuing hostilities, review of space-based data will carry on to assess the changing military landscape.