Aerial Pictures Show Iran's Naval Forces and Atomic Facilities Hit by US-Israeli Airstrikes.
Multiple US and Israeli airstrikes has according to analysis eliminated or harmed a minimum of 11 Iran's navy ships since the weekend, new satellite images show, with missile bases and enrichment plants also coming under fire.
Images of the southern Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port facility, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal smoke billowing from a number of ships on recent days.
Maritime Forces Incurred Significant Damage
Included in the ships sunk was the IRINS Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a drone carrier. Orbital photos showed thick smoke emanating from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas naval base.
Intelligence evaluations state that at least five vessels at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Pictures of the southern end of the port show smoke rising from the Makran, while another pair of vessels appear to be harmed, with one of them visibly ablaze.
Over at Konarak, photos reveal numerous damaged vessels, with analysis identifying strikes against a half-dozen warships. Images from Monday also show that multiple buildings at the base have been leveled.
"For a long time the Iranian regime has threatened commercial vessels," a senior US military official said. "Today, there is not a single Iranian ship at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Sea of Oman, and we will not stop."
Some vessels reportedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by weather conditions or battle damage, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Additional information indicated that one Iranian ship was going down near Sri Lanka's territorial waters, leading to a search and rescue mission.
Missile Bases and Atomic Locations Hit
Eliminating Tehran's launch facilities and the hindering of nuclear weapons development were listed as other goals of the military strikes. Satellite images also revealed impacts against the southern Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone UAV facility west of the city of Kermanshah, extensive damage was seen to warehouses, bunkers and drone launch equipment.
Damage was also seen at a radar installation at the Zahedan military airport in eastern Iran, near the border with neighboring nations.
Perhaps most notably, the new round of attacks have reportedly focused on facilities at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the center of Iran's atomic program. An international watchdog stated that the damaged buildings were used for entry to the site's underground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was anticipated.
Wider Consequences and Assessment
Defense experts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iranian navy's capability to conduct conventional attacks using its largest warships. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that Tehran retains the ability to launch irregular strikes at sea through the use of drones, mini-submarines and its so-called "clandestine network" of tankers.
The full extent of the destruction caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with attacks reportedly ongoing. Imagery also reveals widespread destruction to the main offices of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of public facilities also seem to have been damaged in the capital and throughout Iran since the fighting started. Toll estimates from inside Iran suggest that many hundreds of civilians may have been lost their lives in the attacks.
With the conflict ongoing, review of aerial photographs will carry on to document the evolving battlefield picture.
