Satellite Pictures Indicate Iran's Navy and Nuclear Facilities Damaged by American and Israeli Military Action.
Multiple American and Israeli attacks has according to analysis destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iranian naval vessels since the weekend, recently obtained satellite images show, with launch facilities and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Photographs of the southerly Konarak naval military port and the Bandar Abbas facility, which is located on the strategic Hormuz Strait and houses the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal plumes of smoke rising from a number of vessels on Monday and Tuesday.
Naval Forces Sustained Substantial Losses
Included in the ships sunk was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had served as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery showed dark plumes rising from the ship which had been docked at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence assessments indicate that no fewer than five vessels at Bandar Abbas were "hit or sunk". Imagery of the southern end of the harbor depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional ships seem to be impacted, with one of them seen burning.
Over at Konarak, photos reveal several damaged ships, with expert review identifying damage to a half-dozen warships. Photos taken on the start of the week also show that multiple structures at the base have been demolished.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping," an American commander said. "Now, there is not one vessel from Iran operational in the Persian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Sea of Oman, and we will continue."
A number of vessels reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in satellite images by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have not been conclusively proven. Separate reports stated that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lankan waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Sites and Atomic Locations Hit
Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the stopping enrichment activities were declared as other objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also depicted impacts against the southern Khorgu base and northwestern Tabriz missile facilities, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were targeted.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility west of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to sheds, bunkers and unmanned aircraft systems.
Impact was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the frontier with neighboring nations.
Significantly, the latest wave of strikes have apparently focused on sites at Natanz – considered at the heart of the country's atomic program. The UN's atomic energy body said that the affected buildings were used for access to the facility's underground nuclear plant and that "no nuclear fallout" was anticipated.
Wider Fallout and Analysis
Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain standard operations using its biggest warships. However, it was noted that Iran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of oil ships.
The total scale of the destruction caused to Iranian military facilities has yet to be fully assessed, with strikes said to be persisting. Photos also indicates extensive destruction to the headquarters of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.
A significant number of civilian buildings also appear to have been damaged in the capital city and throughout the country after the fighting began. Reports of deaths from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been fatally injured in the bombardment.
Amid continuing hostilities, monitoring of aerial photographs will continue to document the unfolding military landscape.
