Satellite Imagery Depict Iranian Navy and Atomic Locations Targeted by American and Israeli Strikes.
Multiple US and Israeli attacks has allegedly eliminated or harmed no fewer than 11 warships belonging to Iran since the weekend, recently obtained satellite images show, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also sustaining hits.
Pictures of the southern Konarak naval naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which is located on the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the headquarters of the Iranian navy, reveal black smoke pouring from several warships on recent days.
Maritime Forces Incurred Significant Losses
Among the targets eliminated was the Makran, Iran's largest naval vessel which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Aerial imagery displayed thick 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 depict plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while additional vessels appear to be damaged, with one clearly on fire.
Over at Konarak, photos show multiple stricken ships, with intelligence reports pointing to damage to six vessels. Images from Monday also show that several structures at the base have been demolished.
"For decades the Tehran government has harassed commercial vessels," a senior US military official stated. "Now, there is no vessel from Iran at sea in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will not stop."
A number of ships allegedly sunk may have been obscured in aerial photos by cloud or smoke, or hit in open waters, and have not been independently verified. Other accounts suggested that a ship from Iran was going down off the coast of Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a search and rescue mission.
Rocket Bases and Nuclear Locations Targeted
Eliminating Iranian missile bases and the stopping atomic bomb programs were declared as additional goals of the air campaign. Aerial imagery also showed damage at the southerly Khorgu and north-western Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air air base, where missile storage facilities and bunkers were hit.
Over at the Choqa Balk-e drone base west of Kermanshah, significant damage was seen to sheds, underground facilities and UAV launching apparatus.
Destruction was also noted at a surveillance station at the Zahedan airbase military airport in eastern Iran, close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Of particular note, the new round of strikes have reportedly targeted facilities at Natanz – widely believed to be at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected structures were used for entry to the facility's underground enrichment facility and that "no radiological consequence" was expected.
Wider Impact and Assessment
Defense experts suggested that the offensive appeared to have "largely neutralized" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain standard operations using its most significant warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran retains the ability to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, midget subs and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.
The total extent of the damage caused to Iran's defense facilities remains unclear, with hostilities said to be ongoing. Pictures also reveals considerable destruction to the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the city of Tehran.
Numerous of civilian buildings also are reported to have been struck in the capital and across the country after the hostilities began. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the strikes.
As the situation develops, analysis of aerial photographs will persist to assess the unfolding military landscape.